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PRACTICAL 



artificial intnbutwn 



A RESUME OF THE PROGRESS MADE 

IN THE PAST FEW YEARS IN ARTIFICIAL 

INCUBATION IN THIS COUNTRY AND EUROPE. 

WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF A SCORE OF 

LEADING INCUBATORS IN STTCCESSUL OPERATION IN 

AMERICA ANDjENGLAND. 

ALSO, 

CHAPTERS UPON THE PROPER 

te* and patwg*m*ttt *f tU louttn OEttifttf. 



BY 

J. F. FERRIS, 

Editor of "The Pouitltry Monthly" and "Thb Fanciers' Weekly. " 



PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED. 



36- 70 °1 

ALBANY" 

Ferris Publishing Company. 

1880. 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1880, 

By J. F. FERRIS, 

In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, DC. 



•y transfer fro* 

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49Hlt#l4L 








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TO TEXE THOT7SA1TDS O E" 

fanciers aitfr ^xzzbzxts, 

WHO, FOR THE PAST TEAR, HAVE SO HANDSOMELY SUPPORTED ME IN MT EFFORTS TO 
ESTABLISH A THOROUGHLY LIVE AND READABLE POULTRY MONTHLY, 

®jm Volume is lUsptttfaUg |Bebita&b, bg 
Their Obedient Servant, 

J. F. FERRIS. 



"It is better that every kind of work, honestly undertaken and discharged, 
should speak for itself than be spoken for." — Charles Dickens. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



It is a wise chicken that knows its own mother in 
these days of " Wooden Hens,' 1 " Eclipse Incubators," 
"Perfect Hatchers,' 5 and the score or more of other 
devices rapidly coming into use to bring forth the 
downy little creatures! For many years we have 
prophesied that in a very short time the incubator 
would entirely revolutionize the poultry interests of 
this country as well as Europe. That our prophecy is 
fast being verified, both in this country and in Eng- 
land, even in the year 1880, is rapidly being demon- 
strated by the score of new machines that are already 
being operated successfully. Extensive breeders in 
every part of America are realizing this fact, and in 
our position as editor of the Poultry Monthly, we are 
almost daily in receipt of letters asking an opinion of 
this, that, and the other machine, as well as for facts 
regarding the successful use of incubators in general. 
We began the preparation of this work nearly a year ago, 
but from a pressure of other duties it has been post- 



6 Introductory. 

poned from time to time, and now, after a somewhat 
hasty preparation, it is placed before the public for 
what it may be worth. 

In compiling our little work, we propose to deal 
only with the facts of the present day, and living issues 
as they may present themselves. 

It is well known that artificial incubation has been 
practiced, and attracted more or less attention for cen- 
turies, but it is only quite recently that it has been 
made practical. 

That Incubators are now built that are thoroughly 
practical and combine merit and usefulness, no one 
will question, and it is our purpose to give a history, 
descriptive and comprehensive, of each of the leading 
machines now being offered to the attention of 
breeders. We shall also give attention to the care 
and management of the young chicks from the time 
they leave the shell until they are old enough to care 
for themselves, their diseases and little ailments and 
the simple remedies to use, striving to treat artificial 
Incubation from a thoroughly practical stand-point. 
With this brief preface we proceed at once to the 
subject in hand. 



PRACTICAL ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION. 



CHAPTEK I. 
Artificial Incubation. 



The many peculiar ideas that are expressed by 
various people regarding Incubation, by use of the 
various machines, are some of them ludicrous in the 
extreme. To any one who has stood by an incubator 
in some large exhibition and listened to the laughable 
remarks of the public, as they gaze upon the little 
lively balls of flesh and down, emerging from 
the broken shell, this fact will be appreciated. " How 
long does it take them to hatch oat % " " Are they as 
good to eat as any others ? " " Will they be healthy ? " 
and hundreds of similar questions are heard on all 
sides. Prof. Brown in his recent work upon this sub- 
ject remarks, "Many persons seem to think that Incu- 
bators work by magic, that they do the work in some 
swift and sudden manner, that is, the eggs are put in 
at the top, turn a handle and the chickens appear, or 
put the eggs in at night and they are hatched the 



8 Artificial Incubation. 

next morning, and seem to think it a waste of time 
and energy if they do not hatch the eggs any quicker 
than a hen." To a certain extent, an Incubator is a 
very simple thing ; we well remember, when a boy, of 
an old woman who made one, that worked quite suc- 
cessfully out of a dish-pan placed in a hole in the 
seat of an old broken cane-seat chair. The pan being 
filled with water an oil lamp was placed under it 
to supply the heat, and the eggs were suspended in 
a smaller pan in the water, each egg being wrapped 
in soft cotton, and the whole covered with a warm 
bed blanket. With careful watching success was 
achieved. The woman had the several elements in 
her crude machine which insure success. First, fertile 
eggs ; second, an even, steady heat (secured in this 
case by incessant watching) ; third, proper moisture, 
and fourth (or you may place it first if you like), com- 
mon sense. That an incubator is becoming a virtual 
necessity to success and profit is becoming apparent. 
You have a fine lot of fresh valuable eggs — no hens 
can be found that are ready to undertake the task of 
incubating them, boys are employed to scour the coun- 
try around for " sitting hens," they are found, and read- 
ily you pay from six to twelve shillings apiece for each 
hen, for your necessities are such that you must have 
them. Now your trouble has begun — one hen changes 



Artificial Incubation. 9 

her mind after sitting steadily for a week, it is very 
cold weather, and the valuable eggs are wasted ! An- 
other quarrels with her neighbor ; both finally sit upon 
the same nest ; one nest is left to chill, the other nest 
nearly all broken with their quarreling — so it goes. 
Another hen is having a "splendid hatch," but she is 
a clumsy, club-footed bird, and one-half of the " pedi- 
greed ' ' chicks are dead in the shell on their natal day. 
Our readers will need no reminder of the troubles of 
the breeder in the " beautiful springtime." A prac- 
tical machine is a necessity, and the question at once 
arises, which one shall I buy ? There are but very 
few difficulties to be surmounted in using an incu- 
bator by persons possessed of a fair amount of common 
sense. The cardinal principle involved in them all is 
very similar. They save much trouble and vexation of 
spirit, but at the same time, we confess at once, that 
they, too, require a large amount of patience, and often 
many trials before success is finally achieved. There is 
a certain amount of" know how " that the successful user 
of an incubator must possess, which reminds us of the 
old story of the "gentleman of color" who was hired 
to dress a beaver-skin, and the job being accomplished 
in a very short time, the employer objected to the 
charge of three dollars, claiming that one dollar was 
surely enough, to which our sombre-hued friend re- 



10 Artificial Incubation. 

plied, " Yes, Massa, one dollar for dressing the hide, 
and two dollars more for de know how." 

The " know how " is a very necessary thing, yet at 
the same time we do not claim, that yon must have the 
knowledge of a skilled mechanic, far from it, for 
many a boy or girl of twelve or fourteen years of age, 
or many a woman who, in addition to the cares of 
her small family, can run an incubator, and success- 
fully, too. A great many people can be found who 
will denounce an incubator in strong terms, and our 
word for it, in a majority of cases, they are the very 
ones, who were the last to buy a mowing machine for 
their farms, a sewing machine for their wives, or a 
swinging cradle for their babies, and who always sternly 
set their face against every modern improvement, no 
matter what it may be, the march of civilization af- 
fects them both last and least of all. 

Many things should be given due consideration 
before the purchase of an incubator is decided upon, 
and your mind must be fully made up upon a few 
points. 1st. Will you give it the attention and time 
that it will surely demand at your hands ; and, 2d, will 
you persevere sufficiently in your efforts to gain suc- 
cess ? This you must do, or better let it alone, and, not 
like a small boy with a scroll saw, throw it aside after 
one or two efforts, because you do not at once under- 



Artificial Incubation. 11 

stand it, or break a few saw blades. !No, you must use 
judgment tempered with moderation, and success will 
be your reward in this, as in any thing else. 

You must give it time and attention, both during 
the process of incubation in its early stages, and more 
particularly so when the young chicks are emerging 
from their shells, and during their early stages of 
growth. There are a dozen little attentions required 
by the young chicks, many of which are usually pro- 
vided by the mother hen. These they must have, and 
you will be compelled to give the necessary time for 
it. There is a trite saying, " If you wish a thing half 
done, send a boy, but if yon wish it well done, do it 
yourself ; " this applies with great force to incubators, 
they cannot be left to everybody to care for ; you must 
give them your personal attention or that of a per- 
fectly competent person, and indeed, if you are using 
several incubators, it will pay you well to employ a 
proper person to devote his entire time to their man- 
agement. Another important adjunct is a place 
suitable to set up your incubator and run it ; it 
must be a place where the proper heat and tempera- 
ture can be readily maintained. A great many breed- 
ers have a house built especially for their incubators, 
the same as they would build a house for their poul- 
try, or more especially for their hatching-room and 



12 Artificial Incubation. 

young chicks. This room should be warm, properly 
ventilated, but entirely free from drafts of air of 
every kind. Now, dear reader, if you have decided 
to give an incubator proper attention, and have a place, 
prepared for its reception, the next thing to be de- 
cided will be, which one shall I buy ? In order that 
you may judge understandingly and come to a deci- 
sion as to which may best meet your particular wants, 
we shall give a thorough description of each machine, 
and the particular points of excellence claimed for 
each one by the respective manufacturers, and also 
give the experience of prominent fanciers and breed- 
ers with various machines. You can then decide 
intelligently, which you will prefer, for we are well 
aware that what may meet one person's views may 
be very far from another's, and an incubator well 
adapted to one man's wants would be a failure in 
the hands of some other person. Our descriptions 
of both American and English machines will be 
found to be very full and plain, illustrated properly, 
and void of technique or usually incomprehensible 
terms, and they are the result of two years' experi- 
ence in examining the merits and demerits of the dif- 
ferent machines. We commend each page to your 
careful consideration. 



The Perfect Hatcher. 



13 



CHAPTER II. 

The Pekfect Hatches. 

The inventor of the "Perfect Hatcher" says: 

" In offering the Perfect Hatcher to the public, I do 




it under the firm conviction that I offer an article that 
is properly named, as it has proved in my experience, 
and that of all who have tried it, to be the most Per- 



14 Artificial Incubation. 

feet Incubator in all respects ever offered for sale. 
This opinion is given by parties that have used the 
best of other makers and found them imperfect in so 
many details as to make them only partially success- 
ful. I started out to establish a poultry farm on a 
large scale, to hatch broilers for the New York mar- 
ket, and I concluded that I could only make a success 
of it by hatching and raising artificially, as I thought 
that in no other way could I get out my chicks early 
enough to get the big prices. 

" I was first attracted to the manure process but after 
a little investigation dropped that idea. I then pur- 
chased a very highly praised machine and commenced 
operations, filled it up with eggs and waited the result, 
which was a complete failure. I purchased another 
machine of another maker, that was a failure ; pur- 
chased a third, and that was a failure, and I found the 
season ended, hundreds of dozens eggs destroyed, and 
not a dozen chicks left to tell the tale. I hatched in 
all, perhaps one hundred chicks, but they were so weak 
they all died but about a dozen which I raised up to 
three months and then they died too. But in all my 
experiments I had gained knowledge. T knew that 
chicks could be hatched if a proper inenbator with all 
the necessary conditions for success could be devised, 
and I also discovered that of all the incubators that I 



The Perfect Hatcher. 15 

had bought, not one of them possessed a single requi- 
site of success. I concluded that I could build an in- 
cubator that could hatch chickens, and do it success- 
fully, that I could combine the points necessary, viz., 
a perfect application of heat, a perfect ventilation, and 
perfect application of moisture applied automatically 
and continuous. I went to work and built my ma- 
chine, and the principle then adopted proved I had hit 
exactly right, all that I needed was to develop and 
perfect it. This I have been at work for the past four 
years striving to accomplish, and I am happy to say 
have succeeded. 

The application of heat in this incubator is by 
means of hot water in a galvanized iron tank which I 
claim to be the only correct method and nearest in 
imitation of nature. There are hot air machines, but 
I claim hot air is injurious to animal life as it is to 
plant life. You never see a green-house heated with 
hot air. It is always hot water. Neither do you see 
plants thrive in living rooms heated with a hot air 
furnace. The tank of this incubator is so arranged 
inside that the hot water when it first leaves the boiler 
is compelled to circulate around the outside edges and 
in all four corners of the tank while it is hottest, and 
through the center of the tank last, then downward 
through pipes at farthest end of the tank, then back to 



16 Artificial Incubation. 

boiler by a gang of iron pipes located fourteen inches 
below the tank. By this means a perfect circulation 
of water is secured, and a perfectly uniform heat is 
established in every part of the machine, no one part 
being too hot and another part too cold, as is the case 
in all other hot water incubators, their makers not 
having been able to obtain a perfect circulation of 
water, without which a uniform and even heat can- 
not be obtained. You may heat water to the boiling 
point, and if it does not circulate it will not impart its 
heat, and the eggs will be cold when within two 
inches of the tank, but if a good circulation is secured 
the temperature of the water need be but a few de- 
grees above that of the egg chamber. 

"A perfect circulation of the water and application 
of the heat having been obtained, the next important 
step was to regulate the heat automatically, and so 
perfectly, that there would be no more variation than 
is had when the hen applies the heat. When she is on 
the nest, the heat of the eggs is kept perfectly uniform 
and I concluded this was a necessary condition to suc- 
cess, viz., to maintain a perfectly uniform, unvarying 
temperature, and to get a regulator that would accom- 
plish this was the great problem. Mr. Edison had no 
greater struggle to perfect his light than I had to obtain 
this regulator. But after many weary trials I secured 



The Perfect Hatcher. 17 

it, it is perfect and it is reliable. Every breath 
of cold or warm affects it, it is so exceedingly sen- 
sitive, and it acts at once ; a twentieth part of a de- 
gree will change it. It acts very much quicker than 
mercury, and is unchanging in its qualities, never be- 
coming inactive by use which mercury and all other 
forms of thermostats do. I found that electricity was 
the only agent that could be used in connection with 
this instrument, it was so very sensitive. By using 
electricity there is no friction to overcome, as there is 
when only a mechanism is used. When a mechanical 
contrivance alone is used the regulator or thermostat 
has to overcome the friction caused by the weight or 
spring that is used to operate the ventilators and the 
heat has to run up or down five or six degrees each 
way before the thermostat can pull the lever off the 
clutch to release the weight or spring. But in this 
incubator the regulator has to vary but the twentieth 
of a degree and it connects an electric circuit and acts 
on the electric magnet which releases the clock ma- 
machinery and the ventilators open and the lamps are 
turned down, thus effectually checking the heat. 
When the heat is checked the regulator vibrates again, 
closes another circuit, the ventilators close and lamps 
are turned up again, this operation goes on indefi- 
nitely and never fails to maintain a perfectly uniform 



18 Artificial Incubation. 

heat in the egg chamber. No matter how much it varies 
on the outside it will control the heat so perfectly 
that if the temperature drops to zero or rises to ninety 
the heat in the egg chamber will not vary, and I chal- 
lenge the world to produce another machine that will 
do the same thing as well. 

The adjustment of regulator to obtain any degree of 
heat desired is very simple and easily understood. It 
is done by two screws which are located upon top of 
machine in plain sight. To open the ventilators turn 
up screw No. 1 until it connects the circuit. To close 
the ventilators turn up screw No. 2 until it connects 
the opposite circuit. You can by this method adjust 
the regulator as fine as you can adjust a watch. You 
can set it so you can have one-twentieth degree variation 
or five to ten degrees as you desire. Now, in relation 
to the objection to the use of batteries, some of our 
rivals claim that none but an electrician or scientific per- 
son can use an incubator operated by electricity. This 
statement either shows their stupidity or their unfair- 
ness ; there is nothing simpler than the use of the bat- 
tery if directions are followed, and with our machine 
there is nothing that the purchaser needs to do with 
the battery only to just let it alone. There are no 
zincs to scrape once a week, no sulphate of copper 
to be put in every two weeks, or any thing of the sort. 



The Pekpect Hatcher. 19 

When they leave our factory they are in condition to 
run for three years' constant use, and they are not to 
be touched by the owner. When they are finally ex- 
hausted we will s apply new ones at low rates. The 
reason why these batteries last so long is that there is 
no perceptible consumption of them, for as before 
stated, we use two circuits, one to open and one to 
close the ventilators. The instant the circuit is com- 
pleted and the wheels of the clock begin to move the 
circuit is again broken and the use of the electricity is 
only for a second. In all other incubators that use 
electricity to regulate with, the consumption of their 
batteries is very great for this reason, when the cir- 
cuit is closed so as to open the ventilators the circuit 
remains closed until the ventilators close. In warm 
weather the ventilators will have to remain open ten 
minutes or over ; during this time the battery is being 
consumed very fast, and ten minutes of a closed cir- 
cuit will use up more of the battery than our machine 
will use in two months' constant use. 

VENTILATION. 

The ventilation is as perfect as any other part ; the 
large air space in the egg chamber is a very important 
feature. The egg chamber is fourteen inches in 
depth, and below this chamber are the pipes and be- 



SO Artificial Incubation. 

low the pipes is a second chamber, six inches in depth. 
This second chamber is fitted with doors same as egg 
chamber, in each door is a slide ventilator three inches 
wide by length proportioned to size of machine, four 
to ten inches. These ventilators are to be kept open 
all the time, either wide open or a little way, propor- 
tioned to the weather. 

"When the ventilators on top of the machine open 
to allow the hot air to escape, the cold air rushes in 
through all these ventilators, passes over the hot pipes 
and is warmed, and passes up into the egg chamber. 
This action occurs every twenty minutes, thereby 
keeping the eggs constantly supplied with fresh air ; 
also the carbonic acid gas that is generated by the liv- 
ing chick in the shell, being heavier than common air, 
falls to the lower chamber below the pipes and is car- 
ried out by the cross currents of air that are in motion 
there through the bottom ventilators, and while the 
top ventilators are closed. 

MOISTURE. 

The moisture is applied automatically and continu- 
ously as in nature when the hen builds her nest on 
the ground, where the best results are always ob- 
tained. The ground is always moist, and the heat of 
the hen's body in addition to the heat of the sun is 



The Perfect Hatcher. 21 

gradually and continuously drawing the moisture 
from the soil, the eggs receiving the benefit. Of 
course, eggs do not have to be sprinkled under these 
conditions. In our Hatcher the process is the same. 
We place galvanized iron pans on the hot water pipes 
beneath the egg tray and the water is warmed to just 
the right degree to evaporate fast enough to overcome 
the drying effect of the heat. The moisture from the 
pans is continuously rising, and is applied to the bottom 
of the eggs. The quantity of moisture can be in- 
creased or diminished as desired by the amount of 
surface of water exposed. To decrease the moisture 
we cover a portion of each pan ; to increase it, we re- 
move the cover ; therefore, we have this part under 
perfect control, which is very important, as the egg, 
when fresh, is composed largely of water and a certain 
quantity must evaporate the first ten days of in- 
cubation ; if it does not, the eggs will addle. Thus 
it can be seen that if too much moisture is applied in 
the start we should fail to hatch any chicks, notwith- 
standing we had a perfectly uniform heat and ventila- 
tion. The application of moisture is of as much im- 
portance as either of the others. Thus it will be seen 
that a perfect hatcher must have all the conditions of 
success, such as named above, or failures will result 
often er than successes, and that is why all the other 



22 Artificial Incubation. 

machines in the market are partial failures, for not 
one of them has a suitable means for applying moist- 
ure ; their eggs have to be sprinkled every day. It is 
true that some of them have pans of cold water under- 
neath their eg;g trays, but cold water does not evapor- 
ate fast enough to supply the moisture, hence they 
have to sprinkle, and sprinkling the eggs at certain 
stages is too great a shock to the delicate germ. 

TURNING THE EGGS. 

As it is necessary to turn the eggs two or three 
times a day to make them germinate in a healthy 
manner, the labor of turning five hundred eggs, 
one at a time, is very great. It will take an hour to 
turn five hundred eggs, one at a time, and do it care- 
fully. We furnish a simple method by which an en- 
tire drawer of one hundred eggs can be turned in ten 
seconds without touching the eggs with hands or jar- 
ring or disturbing them. No other machine furnishes 
such an arrangement. 

THE EGG CHAMBER. 

This possesses entirely new features, as before stated. 
It is fourteen inches in depth ; which proves of great ad- 
vantage in many ways. 1st. It gives an opportunity for 
a more equable diffusion of the heat through the 



The Perfect Hatcher. 23 

chamber ; it allows the eggs to be placed farther from 
the tank, and when the heat comes in contact with 
the eggs, it is softer and more genial than it would be 
if placed close to the iron tank, as in most incubators. 
2d. We are enabled to adopt a plan by which we can 
have different degrees of heat, for instance in one 
drawer we can have 102°, a second 103°, a third 105°, 
etc. This is accomplished by having adjustable draw- 
ers. We can raise and lower our drawers a space of 
eight inches. The nearer to the tank a drawer is 
placed the higher the heat will be, say 105°. If we 
want 102° we lower the drawer far enough from the 
tank until 102° is obtained, or any other degree we 
desire. The drawers are adjusted in a moment by 
loosening the nuts and sliding the drawer where it is 
needed and tightening them again. This plan is of 
the greatest advantage, as it enables one to place eggs 
in at any time during incubation, which cannot be 
done in other machines for following reasons : When 
eggs have been in incubation eight days the circula- 
tion of blood in the chick begins to generate animal 
heat, and as a result the temperature of egg chamber 
begins gradually to rise, and a thermometer placed on 
the eggs will indicate about one degree higher than at 
first, by tenth day, and this heat of the eggs will con- 
tinue to increase until the chicks die or the heat of 



24 Artificial Incubation. 

chamber is decreased, or the egg drawer lowered from 
the heat. 

"So it is obvious that eggs placed in the incubator 
with eggs that have been in ten days and placed on 
the same level with the latter cannot have the degree 
that is requisite, for eggs need the highest heat the 
first week (105°), and the lowest heat the last week 
(108°). Therefore, we place the drawer of fresh eggs 
at the highest position toward the tank, and those that 
are already in we lower a very little about every other 
day. Thus we are enabled to place eggs in every day if 
we desire, and give all their proper heat, and hatch with 
perfect success. This is a feature of great value, and 
possessed by no other machine. If we fill the machine 
full of eggs to start with, we simply reduce the heat of 
the whole apparatus after the eighth day by touching 
the regulating screws slightly every other day. 

u The case is made of thoroughly seasoned wood, it is 
a double case with dead air space all around of one 
inch. Wood is the best non-conductor of heat and 
cold when it is combined, as we have it, with other 
non-conducting material. As before stated, our ma- 
chine will stand a change in outside temperature of 
from 90° above zero down to zero and maintain a uni- 
form heat. Some manufacturers lay great stress upon 
the iron case ; I regard the iron case as a very poor 



The Perfect Hatcher. 



25 



affair. It is the best conductor of heat and cold in 
the world. I have seen their machines drop one de- 
gree of heat by simply opening the door and letting in 
a draft of air for an instant ; the fact is they fluctuate 
with the weather, and their makers say they must be 
placed in a room that will not get cooler than 50°, and 
that the temperature of the room must not vary more 
than ten to fifteen degrees. Besides they are not 
durable, they will rust out in two years and become 
valueless. 

" The lower chamber of our Hatcher can be used as a 
nursery for a few days if desired. I have kept chicks 
there for six weeks. 




PERFECT BROODER. 

" Our Brooder is as perfect as our Hatcher, and the 
only one that can be used to advantage on a large 
scale. It is the only one that imitates the hen in 
brooding her chicks, viz., the chick presses its back 



26 Artificial Incubation. 

close against the hen's body and is comforted by the 
warmth. In onr Brooder, the chick presses its back 
close up against warm water pipes and is just as com- 
fortable as when under the hen. In other brooders a 
tank is used and is placed eight or ten inches above 
the chicks ; the chicks cannot come in contact with the 
heat which they crave doing; they consequently huddle 
together and on top of each other, and the result is, the 
weaker ones are always crushed, and you will find 
them dead every morning regularly until more than 
half the chicks are gone. In our Brooder we use 1 1-4 
inch gas pipe covered with tarred paper and flannel, 
the pipes are within four inches of the floor ; for very 
young chicks we put in a movable floor and bring 
them within two and a half inches of the pipes ; as they 
increase in size we remove this extra floor. They 
never can get on top of each other, for there is not 
room enough, and they do not need to, as they are 
comfortable. The Brooder can be moved from place 
to place on the lawn and let the chicks run in and out 
at their pleasure. It can be closed up at night, and is a 
perfect protection against rats, cats and all other ene- 
mies ; the chicks cannot get out until you let them out 
in the morning. The top is of glass with doors ; so 
you can reach every part of it, and clean it out with 
ease. It is perfectly ventilated when closed up for the 



The Pekfect Hatcher. 27 

night. The cost of oil to run it is not as great as the 
cost of the food for hens to raise the same number of 
chicks." 



Artificial Incubation. 



CHAPTEK III. 

The Reliance Incubator. 

The inventor of the " Reliance " Incubator takes 
pleasure in offering to the public a machine which he 
believes to be the best yet invented for the purpose. 




He claims : 

First. "That it is more simple in construction than 
any of the popular Incubators now in the market. 



The Reliance Incubator. 29 

Second. It is as positively automatic as any machine 
for the purpose yet invented. 

Third. It is free from all electrical machinery and 
acids. 

Fourth. It is more easily understood and managed 
more successfully than any other Incubator, and re- 
quires less attention, as ten minutes, twice in twenty- 
four hours (for a three-hundred egg machine) is amply 
sufficient, and it can be left to itself with perfect safety 
for the rest of the time, provided the instructions, 
which are very plain and simple, are obeyed. 

Fifth. It costs less to run it, as it is necessary to heat 
but six quarts of water. (Other Incubators heat from 
eight to twenty gallons.) 

Sixth. In the place of a tank of water, used in all 
other machines to heat the egg-drawer, I use a soap- 
stone radiator, placed over the egg-drawer, heated by 
an arrangement of hot water pipes, imbedded in the 
soapstone. In this manner I am able to heat the whole 
surface of the radiator all over alike, which has never 
yet been accomplished in any machine using a tank of 
water. Thus all parts of the egg-drawers are exactly 
the same temperature (obviating the necessity of 
changing the egg-drawers to keep all the eggs in the 
machine at the desired temperature). 



30 Artificial Incubation. 

Seventh. Perfect ventilation, and just the requisite 
amount of moisture. 

Eighth. The machine is constructed entirely of 
metal and stone, therefore with proper care will last a 
life-time. 

Ninth. Less liability to be affected by the outside 
temperature, as there is a dead air chamber over and 
around the entire machine. 

Tenth. It will hatch all' the eggs that would hatch 
under the most favorable circumstances, in the natural 
way." 

In the new departure he has instituted by inventing 
and using a soapstone radiator in preference to the 
tank of hot water, he has gained in several particu- 
lars, viz.: it is very much less sensitive to the changes 
of heat and cold, consequently in a large degree itself 
operates as a regulator to the temperature. He says, 
" I get a mild, soft heat, nearest like that developed 
from an animal body, in place of the sharp, burning 
heat, which every one will admit is developed from a 
metal tank of hot water ; consequently it is better 
adapted to the purpose for which it is used, viz., the 
development of animal life. 

The ventilation I claim to be perfect. Because (un- 
like any other machine) there is a ventilator over each 
egg-drawer (the egg-drawers are entirely separate from 



The Reliance Incubator. 31 

each other) that is never closed, and a plentiful supply 
of fresh air is constantly received into the bottom of 
the machine in such a manner that every corner of the 
nest is thoroughly ventilated all the time. 

I do not open and close the ventilators for the 
regulation of the heat, but depend upon an entirely 
different device. 

Evaporating pans are so constructed and placed as 
to give just the required amount of moisture to the 
eggs, and, at the same time, temper the air received 
into the machine, thus becoming an important auxil- 
iary in regulating the temperature. 

The eggs do not require sprinkling at any time. 
Instead of a common korosene lamp, such, as I believe, 
all other Incubator manufacturers use, I use a " Flor- 
ence" oil stove (without doubt the best and most 
economical invention in which to burn kerosene oil for 
heating purposes), of a pattern made expressly for this 
machine, whereby I obtain a very much more even 
heat than can possibly be obtained from a common 
lamp, as well as very much more heat from the same 
amount of oil used, thus decreasing the expense of 
running. 

In the use of soapstone I have furnished to the top 
of the eggs, heat that represents as nearly as possible 
that given off from the body of a hen or other fowl ; 



32 Artificial Incubation. 

also a plentiful supply of cool air to the bottom of 
the egg-drawer, thus giving perfect ventilation, and 
cooling the eggs underneath with sufficient moisture, 
imitating nature as closely as it is possible for mechani- 
cal device to do. 

There are, undoubtedly, two, and perhaps three 
Incubators now in the market, which are more or less 
successful, if sufficient time and attention are bestowed 
upon them ; and I am fully prepared to sustain the 
assertion that notwithstanding they are supplied with 
thermostat or pyrometer they require more time and 
closer attention than the "Reliance," which makes 
use of neither. It was to dispense with the necessity 
for this extra close attention that automatic regulators 
of this class were invented and applied ; but the im- 
portant question is, do they accomplish the desired 
result ? I claim they do not, and for the following 
reasons : 

First. All machines with this description of regula- 
tor depend entirely on the working of the regulator 
for ventilation; consequently, should the flame of the 
lamp, by accident, be set so as to produce just heat 
enough to keep the egg- drawer at the desired temper- 
ature for several hours, the pyrometer or thermostat 
remains at rest, and the ventilator remains closed, and 
the air becomes foul (especially when it is near the 



The Reliance Incubator. 33 

time for the chick to leave the shell), which injures if 
it is not fatal to the incipient chick. 

Second. A. continuous irregularity of the heat in 
the egg-drawer is the unavoidable result of these regu- 
lators, because in order to have the regulator open the 
ventilator, the air in the egg-drawer must get too hot, 
and as it is of vital importance that the ventilator 
should open, it is necessary to purposely set the flame 
so as to produce too much heat, and after getting the 
egg-drawer too hot, the ventilator opens, and the 
machine gets too cool, when the ventilator is again 
shut, and immediately proceeds to get too hot again. 
And the three weeks' time is thus made up of fluctuat- 
ing temperature, without a moment of even heat 
(unless by accident). And I claim that an even tem- 
perature with constant, perfect ventilation, is of vital 
importance to practical success. 

Several of the most popular inventors and manu- 
facturers of Incubators go so far as to state in their 
circulars that the ventilation of their respective ma- 
chines is perfect, because the thermostat causes the 
ventilator to open every fifteen or twenty minutes, 
thus acknowledging that the temperature of the air 
in the egg-drawer is constantly and rapidly fluctuat- 



34 Artificial Incubation. 

" I claim that with even heat and constant, perfect 
ventilation, with sufficient moisture, a very much 
larger percentage of eggs will hatch and the chicks 
will leave the shell stronger and livelier than with un- 
even and fitful temperature and imperfect ventilation. 

Again, the thermostat or pyrometer, by constant 
use for a few weeks, becomes, to a great degree, sensi- 
ble to the change of the temperature, so that at least 
one of the manufacturers sends two pyrometers with 
each machine, with private instructions to change the 
same every twenty-four hours, in order to alleviate 
this difficulty. 

This of course will be allowed to be an extra amount 
of labor ; and, as they generally have to be slightly 
altered each time, are a considerable care. 

In conclusion, the machine in which the egg-drawer 
is most evenly heated, perfectly ventilated, and most 
easily managed, is worthy the attention of all desiring 
an Incubator — and such an one I believe the " Reli- 
ance " to be. 



The Centennial Incubator. 



35 



CHAPTER IV. 

The Centennial Incubator. 




Patented March, 1880. 

This thoroughly practical machine lias been before 
the public for a number of years ; having received its 



36 Artificial Incubation. 

name from the fact of its first being exhibited at the 
Centennial Exhibition, at Philadelphia, Pa., in 1876. 

Since that time, however, it has been very much 
altered and improved, being now constructed entirely 
of galvanized iron and copper. All the heating parts 
are of copper, encased and protected by galvanized 
sheet iron ; the spaces between filled in with non-con- 
ducting material. The body of the Incubator is 
double — one case inside of the other — and the 
intervening space is also filled in with a non-conductor. 
This insures no waste of heat, and comparative pro- 
tection from sudden changes in the outside tempera- 
ture. 

Lately, this non-conducting jacket has been doubled 
in thickness, and improved material used for the filling, 
so that the machine may now be used in a room where 
water will freeze along side of it. This improvement 
has been added to specially fit it to the needs and 
convenience of farmers and breeders who are not 
fortunate enough to have a warm room or building 
in which to run the machine. 

Another advantage resulting from this construction, 
is the durability of the Incubator. In an investment 
of this kind, the purchaser naturally does not wish to 
incur a like expense every few years, and it is with 
very much of the same feeling he would have in buy- 



THE CENTENNIAIi Lstcubator. 37 

ing a watch : making a choice of one that will last him 
as long as he needs to use one. It has been conclu- 
sively proved that wood cannot be so thoroughly sea- 
soned, but that it will be warped and twisted out of all 
shape, by the alternate agency of moisture and dryness, 
heat and cold. Hence, if encased in wood, the ma- 
chine soon becomes defective and inoperative, the 
latter caused by the impossibility of keeping the 
regulating apparatus properly adjusted, every warp- 
age and shrinking or swelling, throwing the parts out 
of place and entirely destroying their efficiency. 

Since the adoption of the iron case, this is entirely 
remedied, and some machines which are now in use 
for the third season, are in as perfect working condi- 
tion as when first sent out, never having had a repair 
or alteration put on them. Further, there is no rea- 
son to doubt but that the Incubator will remain in as 
good condition for ten or twenty years to come, if 
reasonable care is taken to draw off the water, dry it 
out and put it up when not in use. 

Economy in running is another point to be consid- 
ered in the purchase of a hatching apparatus ; and 
where it is intended to have one in use for any long 
period, the saving of oil will amount to quite an item. 
The smallest size of this make, — the No. 1 — with 
an actual capacity of one hundred and twenty eggs, 



38 Artificial Incubation. 

will burn less than a pint of oil per day of twenty-four 
hours, and many have been run on a half pint per day. 
This (estimating the larger amount) with oil at pres- 
ent prices, will cost thirty-five cents to hatch one hun- 
dred and twenty eggs, or about one and one-third cents 
per day. The largest size " Centennial Incubator " 
— No. 4 — holding over five hundred eggs, consumed, 
during the month of February, less than. a quart daily. 
Allowing a full quart, the expense is about seventy- 
five cents to hatch five hundred eggs. 

The entire freedom from smoke and bad smell is 
another, and a very pleasing feature of the machines of 
this make. This removes a serious objection to their 
being used in a dwelling-house. 

But perhaps the strongest of the many good features 
of the " Centennial," is its simple and effective regu- 
lating apparatus. With no battery or electrical attach- 
ment, but a simple arrangement of levers, operated 
by a thermostatic bar, it is so perfectly self- regulating, 
that it may, and has been, left for two entire days, 
during which the extreme variation, as shown by a 
self-registering thermometer, was but two and one- 
half degrees. 

It is this quality of perfect self-regulation, so sim- 
ple that children can, and do operate the machine, 
that has given it such a popular hold among the fan- 



The Centennial Incubator. 39 

ciers of the country. And, although higher in price 
than many other makes, it is in more general use, and 
giving the best of satisfaction. 

Our fanciers, as a class, are rather slow to adopt 
incubators, or any other mechanical device pertaining 
to their special pursuit ; but the " Centennial " seems 
to have won its way very quickly, yet surely, into the 
good opinion and confidence of the leading men in 
the fraternity. The indorsement of such well-known 
fanciers as P. Williams, Jas. M. Lambing, Geo. S. 
Josselyn, W. H. Todd, Jno. J. Berry, E. R. Spaulding, 
D. D. Bishop, C. A. Keefer, and a host of others, 
would seem to indicate that incubators and artificial 
incubation have reached a very high degree of per- 
fection in this particular machine. 

A strong point, and one which has contributed not 
a little to its success, is the exceptionally large per- 
centage of chickens hatched. Whether in experi- 
enced hands, or under the care of a novice, the re- 
sult almost invariably exceeds the average natural pro- 
cess. From whatever cause, whether the uniform 
heat in all parts of the egg-drawer, or the system of 
thorough ventilation, or the peculiar construction of 
the egg-chamber, giving the top of the eggs a warm, 
dry atmosphere, and the bottom a cool, moist one, or 
the method of turning the eggs, or all combined, 



40 Artificial Incubation. 

there is certainly less loss of eggs, and a smaller per- 
centage of weakly chickens, than with any other 
apparatus now in use. 

In the brooding of the chicks, the Centennial Brood- 
er stands at the head of the list. Subjected, as it has 
been, to the severest tests, it has proved to be the only 
one which can be used in the open air in all weathers, 
and perfectly shelter and protect the chicks from cold 
and wet, as well as from rats, minks and other prowl- 
ing vermin. 

The heating arrangement is composed of a thin gal- 
vanized iron tank, fed by a small boiler, which is heated 
by a small kerosene lamp. This tank is so placed, that 
the chicks of different ages and sizes may all receive 
equal benefit from it ; and it is also sheltered from the 
outer air by a galvanized iron roof, or cover. The front 
half of the brooder is covered with glass, making a 
warm dry run for the chicks, in cold or wet weather. 
The lamp of the size for eighty chicks, holds one-half 
pint of oil, which will burn from two to three days. 
Several sizes are made, accommodating from twenty 
up to one hundred chicks. Many prominent fanciers 
are using from two to half a dozen of the brooders, 
having discarded hens entirely for the taking care of 
the chicks ; and it seems to be the universal opinion 
of those who have thoroughly tried them, that fully 



The Centennial Incubator. 41 

twenty per cent more chicks can be raised by means 
of the brooders, than with hens, and that the chicks are 
larger and more healthy. 

One more essential aid to the artificial process, is 
the egg tester ; with it the non-fertile eggs can be 
detected by the third or fourth day after being under 
heat : removing them gives room for other and fertile 
eggs, and thus saves space and time. At a still later 
or more progressed state of incubation, those which 
have started and died can be discerned and removed, 
avoiding unpleasant smells in the egg drawer. 




H. W. AXFORD, 

INVENTOR AND MANUFACTURER OF THE NATIONAL INCUBATOR. 



The National Incubator. 



43 



CHAPTEE Y. 

The National Incubator. 

The "* National " is more commonly known as the 
" Axf ord, " being manufactured by H. "W. Axford & 
Co., at Chicago. Probably no incubator has achieved 




such large results, as it has been exhibited a great 
deal. 

u A review of what a thing has done is the best proof 
of its merits. It was invented in 1874, and ever since 



44 Artificial Incubation. 

the brothers have given their whole time to perfecting 
the machine, studying the egg and the necessary care to 
hatch out the chicks. Their first exhibit was made at 
the Great National, Chicago, in the winter of 1875, then 
Detroit, Omaha, St. Louis ; from thence they made a 
remarkable trip of two or three days on board the steamer 
J. L. Rhodes, to Louisville. The incubator was set up 
on the forward cabin deck, and hatched chicks all the 
way on the river, much to the astonishment of the pas- 
sengers. At night it was surrounded by some canvas 
to protect it from the wind. Then it was success- 
fully exhibited at Cincinnati, Harvest Home, Pitts- 
burgh, Allegheny Exposition, " Second National," 
Chicago, Indianapolis, Chicago, 1876, Indianapolis, 
second year, Chicago, 1877, "Third National," Chicago, 
Fort Wayne (Ind.) Fair, Toledo (Ohio) Fair, Fat Stock 
Show, Chicago, Terre Haute, Ind., and the " Great 
International," Buffalo, N. Y., 1879. Then at the 
Grand exhibit at Toronto, visited by 35,000 persons, 
Fat Stock, Chicago, 1879, the Great National at In- 
dianapolis, 1880; Springfield and Worcester, Mass. 
From the great variety of these exhibits, hatching by 
the hundreds and thousands, we must conclude it a 
decided success — pleasing the public In the spring 
of 1879, with eggs raised on their own place, one hun- 
dred and seventy-nine chicks were hatched from one 



The National Incubatok. 45 

hundred and eighty eggs in the smallest size incuba- 
tor. This must not be considered so very wonderful, 
for it must be borne in mind that all infertile and un- 
sound eggs are discarded, and there is no reason why 
in a successful incubator every egg should not bring 
forth a chicken. 

They have shown beyond a doubt, chicks can 
be raised by artificial means, never sparing of proof, 
selling from their Toronto exhibit three thousand 
chicks alone ; at Springfield, Mass., twelve hundred, 
and the demand was so great that many more were 
needed, as the officers of the society can testify. The 
fifty chicks brought from the Indianapolis show to 
Springfield, which were then two weeks old, were 
quickly bought up. 

The machine has been constructed so as to comp]y 
with all the laws of nature, and the demands of the 
chicks — supplying them with fresh air, sufficient 
moisture, and uniform heat. The only work seems to 
be in turning the eggs, which must be done in order 
to get perfect chicks. 

It is very easy to turn seven hundred in twenty 
minutes. The work of heating and regulating will 
not be fifty minutes for a hatch. No patented ventil- 
ating pipes are needed to carry cold air to the bot- 
tom of the eggs, which, at the same time, is supposed 



46 Artificial Incubation. 

to take off the carbonic acid gas from the eggs, but 
simply a few holes punched through the bottom, 
through which the cold air and heavy gases fall of 
their own specific gravity. Turning devices (are 
claimed by them) to the present time as useless, as 
quite a large percentage of the eggs are not turned, 
and some are killed all through the process, except in 
large ovens containing only a few eggs — but here — 
costing more than they are worth to hatch. Eggs 
are easily tested, and with the peculiar make of 
their " egg tester," the chick's heart may be seen to 
beat in forty-eight hours after being set. This is an 
important feature, as those eggs having no chicks may 
be used in the house. While with the tester com- 
monly sold, it requires from seven to eight days to see 
the development, but by this time the eggs are ruined. 
Mr. Axford claims for his incubator that it is prac- 
tical to run it in any temperature, and that you do not 
have to " regulate the room," and that the great prin- 
ciple of the incubator lies in its construction, which 
admits the heat to the egg oven only as the tempera- 
ture falls, and when the desired degree has been 
reached the heat is shut out and retained in the 
heater for future use, thus increasing its heating 
power, enabling it to sustain a proper amount of heat 
on the eggs throughout the widest range of temper- 



The National Incubator. 47 

ature; were this not the case, it would send all the 
heat the lamp produces into the oven, and then allow 
the surplus to escape, admitting cold air into the egg 
oven, causing a local low temperature among the 
eggs, and destroying a large percentage of chicks. 

The Messrs. Axford have given twenty-nine public 
exhibitions of their incubator in successful operation, 
and over two hundred thousand people have seen it, 
and witnessed to its wonderful success, and through 
the medium of these exhibitions their incubator has 
attained a national popularity. 

It is just and right that gentlemen who give so 
much attention to the subject as have the Messrs. 
Axford, should be amply rewarded with success. It 
is a subject that a very large class are interested in, 
and they should thank those inventors who struggle 
through years of adversity to perfect inventions that 
are a great public benefaction. The incubator is 
daily growing in popularity, and it will not be long 
before they will be used by nine-tenths of the suc- 
cessful breeders. 

If we could have a tournament upon a grand scale, 
in which all the various incubator manufacturers 
would take part, we think it would do a great deal to 
make them more sought after. 

We believe tlie Messrs. Axford are desirous for a 



48 



Artificial Incubation. 



friendly contest of this kind the present year, and we 
hope the other manufacturers will respond favorably. 




The Smith Incubator. 49 



CHAPTEE VI. 
The Smith Incubator. 

In a letter to our editor, Mr. F. M. Smith, of Syra- 
cuse, thus speaks of his incubator : 

" I began with the notion that an egg immersed in an 
atmosphere of suitable temperature and humidity, 
would advance through successive stages of embryonic 
development, till the perfectly formed chick emerged 
in due time from the shell. I constructed several 
forms of hot air machines, but found that while the 
temperature was easily controlled, the question of 
moisture was involved in much difficulty and uncer- 
tainty, and finally to secure a solid basis of fact for 
the regulation of this important condition, I weighed 
the eggs under sitting hens, at intervals of three days 
through the period of incubation ; I learned by this 
means that the loss of weight under natural conditions 
was uniform and amounted to about one-sixth or six- 
teen per cent average from the time of sitting to the 
hour of pipping the shell. After a sufficient ex- 



50 Artificial Incubation. 

perience with the hot air principle I concluded I was 
on the wrong track, and adopted the top-heat system. 

A water-tank heated by kerosene lamps and sus- 
pended over the eggs furnishes, by downward radia- 
tion, the heat for incubation in my machines as now 
constructed. 

A second and independent tank heated by an inde- 
pendent lamp, suspended beneath the entire egg 
chamber, furnishes also the bottom heat, although the 
" heat " from this source does not amount to much. 
The office of the lower or "moisture lamp" is to im- 
part a proper and uniform humidity and temperature 
to the incoming air currents, and easily obviates all 
the difficulties encountered in the hot air plan. Both 
tanks are made of large capacity, ten to twenty gallons 
or more, so that changes of temperature are very slow, 
and should the lamps go out entirely, no sensible 
change is observed in the temperature of the eggs for 
a period of twelve hours or more. The upper tank 
especially is well encased in non-conducting material, 
and comparatively independent of external influences. 

The peculiar and distinguishing feature of my incu- 
bator — so far as I am aware — is the construction of 
the heating tank, by means of which the incoming air 
currents, after first passing over the surface of the 
water in the moisture tank, becoming properly modi- 



The Smith Incubator. 51 

fied in temperature and humidity, and thence passing 
through the egg tray, cooling and ventilating the eggs, 
finally pass into the upper or heating tank and over 
the surface of the hot water contained in it, and thence 
out through the ventilator. 

This arrangement furnishes an instant and power- 
ful means of regulating and checking any excess of 
temperature through the large evaporation thus 
efiected in the upper tank, as may be readily under- 
stood by any one familiar with the dynamics of heat 
and evaporation. It renders the incubator compara- 
tively independent of the heat of summer days> or the 
chilly air of other seasons, although, for many reasons, 
it is always desirable to operate an incubator in an air 
of mild and uniform temperature — 60° to 80°, say. 

The loss of water thus effected must be carefully 
and periodically replenished — once a week usually — 
pure soft water being requisite, entirely free from 
any sediment or saline contents. 

The power for opening the ventilator is supplied by 
a galvanic battery of two cells usually, which at the 
same time furnishes the most delicate and sensitive 
means of regulating the temperature, through the 
operation of the pyrometer or thermostatic bar, which 
constitute a part of the galvanic circuit. 



52 Artificial Incubation. 

This pyrometer of very simple construction is easily 
sensitive to one-twentieth of one degree, Fahr., and 
serves to keep the heating tank at an almost perfectly 
uniform temperature. The ventilator, which is operated 
directly from the armature of an electro-magnet, will 
open and close several times per minute, while no 
change whatever can be detected in a thermometer 
placed alongside the pyrometer and similarly exposed. 
The ventilator thus opens and cools eggs, tanks, and 
all, whenever the temperature reaches the maximum 
point fixed by the regulating screw. A slight fall in 
temperature again closes the ventilator. There is no 
other machinery whatever connected with my incuba- 
tor — no clock-work, wheels, levers, circulating pipes — 
or other device to suffer derangement by use or acci- 
dent. It is believed to be as simple as it is possible 
to construct any machine which can safely and relia- 
bly conduct so delicate and wonderful an operation as 
the incubation of an egg, the epitome of all animal 
life. 

Another feature of my incubator, which is unusual, 
is a small artificial mother or brooder, and pen, occu- 
pying the entire top, into which the little chicks are 
introduced soon after being hatched, and where they 
are confined for the first few days after life, or until 
they learn to eat and drink well and get fairly " on 



The Smith Incubator. 53 

their legs." I have found this an extremely useful 
and convenient arrangement. The brooder is warmed 
by the waste heat from the machine, is continuously 
ventilated with warm air, and in it the little chicks lie 
about, not huddled and packed together, but scattered 
apart in entire comfort. Many interesting details 
might be added with reference to the management of 
the incubator — the selection, testing, and development 
of the eggs, etc., but which do not appear to come 
within the scope of this article. 

As to proportion of eggs which can be hatched it is 
difficult to affirm any thing very definite, so much de- 
pends upon the attentiveness and judgment of the 
operator, and also upon the character of the eggs used. 

Some eggs appear to be endowed with very vigorous 
vitality and will stand much abuse ; others are feebly 
endowed and require the most careful management, 
and often fail with that. In general, with fair man- 
agement, and no protracted over-heating, a hatch of 
sixty to eighty per cent of the fertile eggs may be ex- 
pected. With exceptionally good eggs a larger per- 
centage can be realized, and with exceptionally poor 
ones, the result is proportionately reduced. 

The cost of operating is about six to eight cents per 
day for kerosene and battery power. 



54 Artificial Incubation. 

I usually make two sizes, viz., of two hundred and 
three hundred egg capacity — selling respectively for 
$55 and $65. Incubators can be made of any size and 
capacity to order at corresponding prices, although I 
have found a machine above three hundred capacity to 
be an unwieldy article of furniture. 

The eggs require turning at least twice daily, espe- 
cially during the first ten days of incubation, and dur- 
ing the second ten days should be removed from the 
machine at least every other day and cooled down to 
80° or 75° — during half or three-quarters of an hour. 
A little longer does no harm. I was very skeptical 
about this practice until a few accidental exposures of 
this sort convinced me of its necessity and utility. As 
to the time required, about half an hour to an hour 
daily is sufficient for all necessities. The eggs require 
a periodical testing — the unfertile and dead ones 
being removed. 

The thermometers are placed in direct contact with 
the eggs, on top — thus constantly disclosing the actual 
temperature of the eggs themselves. 

My incubator has taken the first premium for two 
successive years at the exhibitions of the Empire State 
Poultry Association in this city, 1879-1880 ; also at 
the Onondaga County Fair, in the fall of 1879. With 
the exception of one contract exhibition at Cortland 



The Smith Incubator. 55 

this winter, these are the only public exhibitions I 
have made. At one exhibition this winter I hatched 
about three hundred chicks from five hundred eggs 
set. As I explained to you in my former letter, 
it is only somewhat recently that my incubator has 
been perfected, and afforded results that have estab- 
lished my confidence in its utility and novelty — as 
well as settled my purpose to offer it to the poultry 
dealing world in competition with the incubators of 
other make." 



56 



Artificial Incubation. 



OHAPTEK YII. 

The Eclipse Incubator. 




The Eclipse Incubator. 57 

"That poultry husbandry has become one of the 
largest of our productive industries is now quite gen- 
erally appreciated and admitted," and in whatever 
branch of the business in which one may be engaged, 
the artificial process of incubation shows at once its 
manifest advantages over the slow and uncertain nat- 
ural process. Do you raise fancy stock or high-class 
poultry for exhibition ? Observe what birds are bear- 
ing off the prizes ; the chances are ten to one that 
they were hatched artificially, and this will appear 
obvious enough when we consider that, being hatched 
early, they get through with their moulting early, and 
show their superiority at the exhibitions, during the 
fall and winter, by being more fully matured. 

If broilers are wanted for the early market, how 
can they be supplied in quantity unless they are 
hatched artificially ? Biddy is altogether too uncer- 
tain to depend upon for these very toothsome articles 
of food, even if she feels inclined to begin the task, 
when her services in this line are most in demand ; 
and should she be accommodating enough to begin, 
the probability is that you will sooner or later have to 
be there too to hold her down, or lose the eggs. We 
know to our sorrow that Biddy will often cackle when 
she ought to cluck. In fact, you might just as well 



58 Artificial Incubation. 

expect a train of cars to travel without a locomotive 
as to expect to raise broilers without an incubator. 

If you make a specialty of raising eggs for the mar- 
ket, you will find the incubator invaluable, for the 
best layers are unquestionably the non- setters. When 
artificial incubation becomes universal here, as it must 
in time, probably all the breeds will in a great meas- 
ure lose the desire to set ; it is the case in some parts 
of Europe, and why not here ? If we can hatch and 
raise chickens better without hens than with them, 
the sooner they surrender to us the better ; they can 
serve us much better by producing the eggs, which we 
at present cannot do. 

There are manufactured for sale to-day some thirty 
or more incubators, many of which are comparatively 
worthless, some of them fraudulently so. Every man- 
ufacturer claims his particular machine to contain all 
the essentials and conveniences for successful incuba- 
tion, and that his particular machine is the only one 
that does contain them. Now, when a person wishes 
to purchase an incubator, he naturally wants one that 
will surely meet its requirements; so we suggest to 
the reader the following : Having made up your mind 
that you need an incubator, and that you understand 
what is necessary in order to be successful, send for 
circulars to as manv of the different manufacturers as 



The Eclipse Incubator. 59 

you may hear of, and, having obtained them, compare 
them carefully; satisfy yourself as to whether their 
contents is the truth or not, and the one you then like 
the best is the one with which you will in all prob- 
ability meet with the most success. But beware of all 
secrets about an incubator. Before you send your 
money you have a right to know the why and where- 
fore of every part and point of the incubator, and if 
the maker cannot satisfy you on the point it will evi- 
dently not bear investigating. Again, beware of a 
manufacturer who fills up his circulars with accounts 
of failures of other incubators ; it is not an honorable 
way of doing business, and an honorable man would 
never do it. The accounts may be true in part ; for 
there is not an incubator made, and never will be, but 
what has failed in some hands ; but when he cannot 
make a sale without doing this, his incubator is one 
which will never commend itself. 

New incubators are starting up every day, which 
are destined to " astonish the world," but their careers 
are of short duration. Sooner or later most of those 
now made must drop from the list, as there is not sale 
enough to support so many. There is room in this 
country for four or five, but not more. The best of 
those now manufactured will stand by their own 
recommendations, and be improved from time to time 



60 Abtificial Incubation. 

as necessity dictates. The manufacturers should give 
their incubators their undivided attention, in order to 
secure the best results. 

That there have been total failures with everv in- 

«/ 

cubator made is apparent enough, but it should not 
always be laid to the incubator Much depends upon 
the eggs, their age, fertility, etc., and upon local cir- 
cumstances ; and there are some things about which 
little is known yet for a certainty. Much jarring has 
always been considered fatal to the eggs, and also a 
long chill. But last summer I took one of our Eclipse 
incubators in an express wagon twice across the city 
of San Francisco, Cal., then put it aboard of a freight 
train for Sacramento, distance 150 miles. It went in 
the caboose at the end of the train, the door of which 
was so narrow that the incubator had to be put on its 
side, in order to get it in, and was taken out in the 
same way ; of course all the eggs were rolled about, 
and for twenty-six hours they were stone cold. The 
jerking and banging of the train was tremendous, yet, 
strange as it may appear, almost every egg in the 
machine hatched, and most of them on time. Some 
of the eggs were due the day the journey was finished, 
the others every day during a weeko This was at the 
California State Agricultural Fair, and the incubator 
took the society's medal. As the same thing has hap- 



The Eclipse Incubatok. 61 

pened since, under almost the same circumstances, 
it would seem to show that eggs under incubation can 
endure some pretty rough handling. 

It is to be hoped that this book, which is something 
entirely new, will be found to contain much valuable 
information for those interested in the subject. In 
the United States, artificial incubation is not generally 
well understood at present : but one thing is certain, 
which is, that here is where it will be brought to per- 
fection. The writer has been in nearly every country 
on the western continent, from British America to 
Cape Horn, along both oceans and in the interior, all 
over the West Indies, and a little on the other side of 
the Atlantic. Everywhere the great benefits of poul- 
try are well known, and in many places nothing can 
be more profitable than poultry husbandry. 

The labor required to manipulate an incubator is 
very light, and a woman can do it just as well, if not 
much better than a man. The successful machines all 
regulate themselves, or ought to; so they require but 
little time, and this little in the morning and even- 
ing, when it can be best spared. 

The manufacture of the Eclipse is now our sole 
business. We have a large, roomy shop, furnished 
with steam power, containing seven rooms, with every 
facility and convenience for carrying on the business 



62 Artificial Incubation. 

as it should be done. We make every effort to have 
the machines first class in every respect, and honestly 
believe there is no more practical or convenient incu 
bator in existence. They are economical in consump- 
tion of fuel, thoroughly and completely ventilated, 
well built and elegantly finished. Our circulars con- 
taining a complete description of the incubator, will 
be sent to any address upon application." 



The Corbett Apparatus. 



63 



CHAPTEK VIII. 
The Corbett Apparatus. 




This incubator is the invention of Prof. A. Corbett, 
of New York, who has followed in the footsteps of 



64 Artificial Incubation. 

the celebrated Reaumur, who was a member of the 
Academy of Sciences in Paris in 1747. After several 
years of experience, Prof. Corbett is assured that he 
has made the process practicable, and a patent was 
duly issued to him June 27, 1875. Our first illustra- 
tion represents the apparatus in operation, surrounded 
by manure, and containing the eggs in process of incu- 
bation ; the second illustration shows the inside of 
the machine, and the third shows it transformed 
into an artificial mother. Upon this apparatus Prof. 
Corbett has received forty-five medals and diplomas, 
including those of the Centennial Exhibition, the Chili 
Exposition , and leading agricultural fairs. He has about 
$75,000 invested in the poultry business ; and a work 
entitled " The Poultry Yard and Market," of which 
he is the author, has gained for him considerable 
notoriety. In this work, from a chapter entitled 
" Researches and Success," we extract the following : 

RESEARCHES AUD SUCCESS. 

" The public will now understand from what sources 
I have sought to learn ; and after all the experiments 
I have made, I concluded at last that Reaumur's sys- 
tem appeared to be most feasible, it being the easiest 
and least expensive to follow. I therefore from that 
time began to practice it, thus : Six casks were placed 



The Corbett Apparatus. 



65 



in 



a heap of manure, and 600 eggs were placed in 




them. All were lost. It was in winter, and I thought 
5 



66 Artificial Incubation. 

that in the cellar the casks would keep at a better 
degree of heat; but there not being room enough, 
and the want of ventilation, were the causes of my 
failing. Not in the least discouraged, although disap- 
pointed, I again placed eight casks under an old shed, 
and this time put 800 eggs in them ; the success would 
have been entire, had not the rain fallen one day on 
part of the manure heap, and cooled it off. Never- 
theless, from the other part I proved the success, and 
you can judge how delighted I was to see several hun- 
dred young chickens hatched. 

Let the reader rightly understand that we did not 
have entire confidence in the success to be derived 
from this venture at the time, as it was necessary to 
find a place to put the newly-hatched chickens in, 
which appeared to us like a true army of invaders. 
Those persons who have never seen hundreds of 
young chickens of one and two days old, can form no 
idea of the busy and noisy household. Luckily, we 
had an artificial mother, warmed by one lamp, and I 
placed the young chickens in it ; whether it was the 
smell of the kerosene that was injurious to them, or 
whether the heat produced by the hot water did not 
accomplish the wished -for object, I lost the greater 
number of them, and I had the misfortune to prove 
that it was especially from crowding themselves in the 



The Cobbett Appabatus. 67 

corners that they died. This was a bitter disappoint- 




ment to me. As there was now no doubt that I could 



68 Aktificial Incubation. 

hatch the eggs with the aid of manure, it only re- 
mained to improve on the casks and mothers, and the 
manner of directing or regulating the heat, besides 
providing the proper and necessary ventilation, and to 
supply the necessary quantity of air. I, first of all, 
began my improvements on the artificial mother, in 
suppressing the corners as much as possible, and at 
last had one built without corners, measuring twelve 
feet in length and ten feet in width, and warmed by 
two kerosene stoves. I thought myself very happy in 
having such a large artificial mother, in which I could 
place 1,800 chickens of different ages. Every thing 
was complete in it — park, perches and ventilation. 
Unfortunately, one night in April one of the lamps 
exploded and set on fire the building which it was in, 
and which measured 200 feet in length and cost $6,000. 
The dog gave the alarm, and soon every one on the 
farm was awakened, and commenced to extinguish the 
fire by means of the India-rubber hose kept on the prem- 
ises for such a calamity, and with a plentiful supply of 
water the building was saved by a miracle, but I was 
not so fortunate with my young brood ; nearly all of 
them were smothered or suffocated. Again was I 
forced to resign myself to fate and give up the raising 
of my pullets artificially by means of lamps. The 
insurance company paid the damage to the building, 
but the poultry was not insured. 



The Cokbett Apparatus. 69 

Having got over this loss, I puzzled my brains to 
find a new system, and began to think I should have 
to renounce the idea, when the happy thought struck 
me to try the manure heap, and to see if I could 
not make it do for the chickens what it did so 
well for the eggs. I then placed a common box in 
the manure and put in it some newly hatched chicks; 
this was rather a bold proceeding, for the chances 
were that I should only find dead ones in the morn- 
ing. Judge of my surprise when at ~Q.ve o'clock in the 
morning I opened the box and saw all these little ones 
with their large eyes open, waiting their first meal, 
and they were quickly fed. 

This, then, was the solution of the great problem. 
Was it chance or luck ? Nevertheless, I had before 
me the fact that there were animated beings born in 
manure and receiving the warmth necessary for their 
welfare from the same source. Having already received 
so many checks and deceptions, I hesitated and re- 
frained from shouting " Victory ! " — Eureka it might 
be. 

A few more days would show me what success I might 
depend on in using this means of raising them, and 
all those that were daily hatched received the same 
treatment. At length, after fifteen days' experience, 
I had only to fight against the corners of the box ; for 



70 Artificial Incubation. 

those who have the opportunity of visiting an estab- 
lishment for rearing young chickens know full well 
how they will crowd into the corners ; the stronger 
ones mount on the backs of the weaker, and these are, 
almost in all cases, victims to their companions. 

I now began to look for a box that would in a cer- 
tain degree resemble the hen. Everybody knows that 
if she gives warmth to the chickens it is by covering 
them with her wings ; but again, if an account was 
taken of the number she crushes by treading on them, 
of those she loses in walking round with them, you 
can easily see that the raiser pays dearly for the heat 
she gives. I will admit there are some mothers pat- 
terns of gentleness, tenderness and carefulness, and 
quite worthy of the praise and admiration bestowed 
on them, and will allow several authors to say all they 
can in their favor ; but if they were, like myself, daily 
watching them, and convinced of the reality, they 
would soon see how Yery many in general destroy 
their young ; it is by millions yearly that they could 
be counted. Up to the present time very few have 
troubled themselves about this great question, for the 
simple reason that this enormous loss, being shared by 
all, it has not awakened the attention of the great 
poultry raisers. One of my neighbors, who raises a 
great quantity of poultry, especially turkeys, lost in 



The Corbett Apparatus. 71 

one day sixty-four chicks, their careful mothers hav- 
ing taken them off to a distance, when the rain came 
and they were lost. This man, a clever farmer, suffer- 
ing so great a loss, has he ever thought he might 
avoid it ? I don't believe he has. 

In order that my apparatus should be good, I kept 
strict account of the heat given to the chickens by the 
mother, the movement of the wings, and especially of 
the amount of air that penetrated under her. After 
several days' labor and combinations, I succeeded in 
obtaining all these results, and I found I had replaced 
the hen with great advantage, for really my apparatus 
is much superior to the hen. The stomach and the 
wings are, by a clever combination, beautifully imitated. 
Especially do chickens find this to be the case whilst 
growing up as well as when they are small. This 
apparatus having so admirably succeeded in raising 
chickens, why could it not serve also to hatch them ? 
To this important question I could not immediately 
reply ; so I began another experiment, and the first 
trial failed, and upon my making further researches I 
discovered that what prevented the success of the in- 
cubation was simply in the quality of the wood of 
which the boxes were made. I then made another 
apparatus and new experiments, and at last suc- 
ceeded. 



72 Aktipicial Incubation. 

From that day I found I had solved an important 
problem, and that I could hatch and raise chickens 
without the assistance of any lamp, nor with any fire, 
and that manure alone would do it. Ah ! if Reaumur 
could rise from his ashes, how happy would he be to 
see these facts established ; and I would wish to see 
present near the hatching broods those authors who 
have so little gratitude for this renowned man of the 
past century." 

" Every pen that is employed in the praise of any 
subject or industry does honor to the author who ren- 
ders justice to the merits of others, more especially 
when it alludes only to their memory." 



Successful English Incubators. 73 



CHAPTER IX. 

Successful English Incubators. 

Artificial incubation has made fully as much pro- 
gress in England the past two years as in America. 
In 1877 it began to attract the attention of the practi- 
cal, progressive breeders in that country, and has been 
steadily gaining in favor with them ever since. It has 
been largely encouraged by frequent trials of the differ- 
ent machines at public exhibitions or " Incubator Tour- 
naments," as they are called, in which the various ma- 
chines are put to the test under similar circumstances, 
and these public trials attract great attention. 

The one held at Hemel Hempstead last year was 
very noteworthy in many respects, the best, or most 
successful machine hatching, 97 per cent, the second 
one 57 per cent, the third 56 per cent, the fourth 43 
per cent, and several others were nearly as successful. 
The trial took place in the month of September, and 
we can all understand that there are many adverse 
circumstances connected with a trial of that kind, and 
that time of the year, which should be given due 



74 Artificial Incubation. 

consideration. For the descriptive part of the English 
machines, we are indebted to a recent work upon this 
subject by the editor of the Fanciers' Chronicle 
(English.) 

CELEBRATED ENGLISH INCUBATORS. 



This machine is the invention of Mr. Thomas 
Christy, London, and we believe, so far as the mode 
of working is concerned, he obtained his idea from 
the Houillier incubator used so much in France ; he 
has made several alterations, which he considers im- 
provements, but as we have not yet had an opportunity 
of testing the Rouillier, we cannot express an opinion 
upon them. The Christy machine is about 30 inches 
square, and outwardly has an appearance of a wood chest 
with a drawer at the bottom and a glass gauge above ; 
in fact, it has very little appearance of being an incuba- 
tor from its outward aspect, having none of the mechan- 
ical contrivances that are generally to be seen on these 
machines. It is simply a tank occupying two-thirds of 
the whole, the remaining third being taken up with 
the egg drawer. This tank has some internal compart- 
ments which divide the water, the objects of which will 
shortly be seen. The inlet to the tank is on the top, 
and the outlets, of which there are two, are at the 



Christy's Hydro-Incubator. 



75 



front. One of these is about half-way down, the other 
being fixed at the bottom of the tank. The gauge 
glass, of course, registers the height of the water in 
the tank. A wooden door, on being removed, reveals 
the egg drawer, which, on being drawn out, shows the 




HYDRO-INCUBATOR FOR 100 EGGS. 

A is the pipe only used for completely emptying" the cistern ; B, the brass tap for 
drawing off the water prior to replenishing the cistern with boiling water ; C, the 
glass gauge with a marked scale, D, at the side to register height of water in the cis- 
tern ; E, the pipe for filling the cistern ; F, the tube for escape of air when water is 
put in the cistern ; G, the drawer into the front of which the new earth-trays slide ; 
H, thermometer in the drawer ; I, I, the air-holes in sides of incubator and drawer ; 
J, the flannel ; K, the stand or box used to keep the incubator off the ground ; L, the 
earth-trays. 

thermometer, and the arrangements for moisture. 
The eggs are placed upon a perforated zinc tray, the 
holes allowing the moisture to rise from the earth 
trays beneath, and keeping the bottom of the eggs 
cool. Air is admitted bv two rows of holes at each 



76 Artificial Incubation. 

side of the machine, one row of which admits air into 
the drawer above the eggs, and the other below the 
eggs. 

The marvelous part of the whole thing is, that it 
works without lamps or gas, and, therefore, needs no 
regulator, which is always the most expensive and 
difficult part of a self- regulating incubator. The mode 
of procedure is to fill the machine with boiling water, 
which raises the heat up to about 120 or 130 degs., and 
after allowing it to cool down to 102 degs., keep the 
heat at about that temperature by drawing off every 
twelve hours, by the tap placed midway in the tank, a 
sufficient quantity of water, and replacing it by the 
same quantity of boiling water. Strange though this 
may seem, if it is properly done it will keep the tem- 
perature pretty even. The quantity requiring to be 
taken out varies with the outer temperature, and 
whilst a very small quantity of water will work it in 
summer, or if kept in a warm room in winter, if kept 
in a cold place it takes a large quantity to keep it 
going. 

This machine, as will have been apparent to our 
readers, can only be worked where a sufficient supply 
of hot water can be obtained. In summer, or if kept 
in a warm place, this can be done quite easily, but in 
the depth of winter — the time when Incubators are 



Christy's Hydro-Incubator. 



77 



of the most use — the difficulty is not so easy to over- 
come. Of course, a large pan can be got to hold three 
or four gallons of water, but it is not every household 
that can allow the fire to be monopolized for an hour 
or two twice a day. In large establishments, where 
the kitchen boiler is always pretty near boiling point, 
the thing is easily managed, but the majority of those 




BRONZE ME0AUO- PR J?Z&?* 
DAIRY S H OW. (gslNCUBATOR COMPlTITK)JJ| 

a 18 77 HCMElHEMPSTEAD.fi 

|$| III 




HYDRO-INCUBATOR FOR 500 EGGS. 
Constructed with two cisterns and four drawers, each cistern working independently 
of the other. 

who have incubators have not this convenience. Our 
own plan was as follows : — We placed the incubator 
in a dressing-room adjoining the bath-room, and upon 
the top of the incubator put a small gas stove, upon 
which a large tin boiler, holding about seven gallons 
of water, was placed. As the heat of the water in 
the bath boiler was generally from 150° to 180°, it did 



78 Artificial Incubation. 

not require a great deal of time to boil it ; and, a tap 
being fixed in this tin boiler right above the inlet pipe, 
the water, actually boiling, was run into the machine. 
It is necessary, when this is done, to place a sheet of 
tin under the gas stove, or the wood below will be 
charred by the heat, and, perhaps, set on fire. The 
only drawback to this plan is the expense, as a great 
deal of gas is consumed in these stoves, and whilst we 
had ours at work it cost about 4d per day. It is only 
where gas can be obtained that this plan can be carried 
out, and in country places the machine must be 
worked by some other method. Where the machine 
is placed in charge of game-keepers or poultry-men 
who have plenty of. time on their hands, the spending 
of an hour or two does not make any difference. "We 
would recommend, whenever possible, that the machine 
be placed in charge of a woman — we use the word in 
its truest sense — for they have far more time and 
patience than we of the sterner sex. They appear to 
have an adeptness and art, which causes them to 
succeed where men fail ; in fact, they, when they take 
a real interest in the matter, appear to have more of 
the "knack" we spoke of in our first chapter. Of 
course, there are ladies who do not possess this " knack," 
and a machine is a useless thing with them. We would 
not,' however, recommend a self-regulating machine 



Christy's Hydro-Incubator. 



79 



being placed in the charge of a lady, as the delicate 
mechanism necessary for the regulation is — with all 
due deference to the fair sex — a true bete noir in their 
hands, and, unless the worker has more mechanical 
knowledge than is generally possessed by ladies, will 
be too much for them. 

Many of our readers will wonder how it is that some 




THE "CLUCKER!' HYDRO-INCUBATOR FOR 20 EGGS. 

persons succeed so well, whilst others utterly fail 
with the same machine, both working, apparently, 
under the same circumstances, and the wonder is a 
natural one ; but we suppose it is just the same as in 
other matters, some have " a gift," or a plodding pa- 
tience, and succeed, whilst others, under the same, or 
even more favorable circumstances, have to give up in 
despair. This will, therefore, account for the different 
reports given by various persons. 



80 Artificial Incubation. 

The merits of this machine are : its great simplicity 
in working ; the regularity of temperature which it 
keeps, caused by the fact that the lower body of water 
is never disturbed, and that the hot water can only mix 
with the cooler water gradually ; the freedom from 
objectionable smell which all gas and oil machines give 
off, arid which may have some injurious effect upon 
the imprisoned chick; and last, but not least, its 
reasonable price. Its defect is : The large quantity 
of water required to work it in cold weather ; but in 
spite of this, it is a very useful machine, and its 
introduction marks a new era in the history of artificial 
incubation, and we can thoroughly recommend it to 
any one who has the time and means of working it. 

The machine used in our experiments was a 100 egg 
machine, which is the smallest size made, it being found 
that a smaller one is more affected by the temperature 
of the atmosphere, there not being so large a body of 
water, and consequently the heat is more quickly lost. 
Messrs. Christy make machines to hold 20, 80, and 500 
eggs, and also one for ostrich eggs. 



Some readers may probably never have heard of 
this machine, which is the invention of Mr. Cashmore, 
of Loughborough, and, being sold at a very low price 



Cashmore's Incubator. 



81 



for a lamp machine, it may be thought to be a toy and 
nothing more. Such, however, is not the case, as with 
ordinary care and attention it will be found very useful 
and handy for any one who wishes to hatch only a very 
few birds at one time. 




Thi3 machine stood second in the trial of incubators 
at Hemel Hempstead, in September last. 

The machine is about 2 feet square and 18 inches 
high. At the front is shown the egg drawer, A, 
holding about 50 ordinary sized eggs, which are placed 



82 Artificial Incubation. 

upon flannel over a sheet of perforated zinc. The 
moisture is given from a tray not shown, which is 
filled with earth and kept moist, as in the Penman 
and Christy machines, but with the difference that it 
is much larger, and consequently is capable of giving 
off more moisture ; this tray is only seen when the 
egg drawer is taken completely out. The inlet to the 
tank is at the funnel, B, which is also used for the regu- 
lator, and which we will describe presently ; C is the 
pivot for the regulator rod ; D is the exhaust pipe ; E 
is the lamp (for benzoline), carefully balanced upon the 
two brackets shown in the plate ; F is a tube which runs 
to the chimney I, and in which the burner is placed ; 
G is the thermometer ; and H are the holes for the 
admission of air to the eggs. 

The method of working is as follows : — Hot water 
is poured into the funnel B until it is filled, when the 
machine is allowed to cool down until it comes to the 
requisite temperature, when the lamp is lit and fixed 
in position. The wire from the rod is then hooked 
on to the lamp, and at the other end of this rod a hol- 
low weight is hung, which, being just balanced by the 
lamp, floats on the oil which is placed above the 
water in the funnel to prevent evaporation. "Within 
the tube F about the quarter of an inch beyond 
the end of the burner, and below it, a brass tongue 



Cashmore's Incubatoe. 83 

is placed of a wide A shape inverted, and this forms 
the principal part of the regulator. The result is, 
if the machine gets hotter than the temperature at 
which it is set, the water in the tank naturally ex- 
pands, and, having no other outlet than the funnel 
B, rises there, in consequence of which the weight is 
raised and the burner falls, cutting off nearly all the 
flame, and of course as soon as the temperature falls 
again, the water contracts, the weight is lowered, the 
burner rises, and the flame attains its full size. We 
found, when testing this machine, that it keeps its 
heat very even indeed, and with as much regularity 
as any lamp machine we have yet tried. 

Considering the small size of the machine, it is 
wonderful how regular the heat is kept, but this is 
partially due to the fact that the bottom body of 
water is not interfered with, as the lamp heats only 
the upper portion. This we think a good plan, and 
which can be used in the gas or lamp heating machines, 
as well as in Hydro-Incubators. The small size and 
consequent cheapness is an advantage to many, who 
do not care to have a large and cumbersome machine, 
but one that they can handle easily. 

The merits of this incubator are its size, the 
simplicity of its working, its capital regulator, its 
excellent arrangements for air and moisture, and the 



84 Artificial Incubation. 

small cost for the oil it burns. Its only demerit is 
that the regulator will only regulate within a certain 
number of degrees. Our remark requires some fuller 
explanation to show what we mean, and it is this — 
that in a sudden change of temperature from, say, 50 
deg. to 30 deg., the flame being full for the former? 
would, of itself, not be able to meet this, and the heat 
of the machine would go down in consequence. 
Again, if sudden heat came, raising the temperature 
of the atmosphere 20 deg., it would greatly interfere 
with the heat of the machine. This is, however, a 
matter that can always be avoided by extra attention 
when such occurrences take place, and is just what 
may be looked for in other machines more pretentious 
than this one. 

howell's gem hatcher. 
The "Geni" hatcher is made by Mr. F. Howell 
of Dunstable, a gentleman who has taken very great 
interest in the question of artificial incubation, and 
who has worked this machine very successfully. It is 
upon the same principle as Christy's Hydro-Incubator, 
and held third position in the last trial of machines at 
Hemel Hempstead, being scarcely 1 per cent below 
that of Mr. Cashmore. It is made in two sizes, namely, 
60 and 100 eggs respectively, and the larger machine 



Watson's "Scotia'' Incubator. 85 

did the best work, the smaller machine being nearly 
20 per cent below the larger one in results. 

The difference between this machine and that of 
Messrs. Christy is the egg drawer, which is a tin tray, 
has very good arrangements for moisture, and the eggs 
are laid upon straw as in the Yoitellier machine. The 
glass gauge which registers the height of the water is 
abolished, but this is a very questionable improvement, 
and one which might be called an improvement 
backward. 

Mr. Howell claims that in his machines, much less 
water is required to work than in the Christy, and of 
course, this is a great advantage. It is doubtless through 
having a larger body of water, the larger machine 
holding about 25 gallons. Other than this, it is very 
similar to that machine. 



. This machine is altogether on a different principle 
to any other machine, being worked by lamps, but has 
no regulator whatever. 

In appearance, it is like a very flat box with one 
drawer in front, and an arched hole at each end of it. 
It is about 3 feet in length, half that width, and 15 
inches in height, the outer case being wood entirely. 



86 Artificial Incubation. 

A tank about 1-J inches deep is fitted in it extending 
the whole length of the machine, holding the water, 
which is heated by the lamps placed in compartments 
of which the arched holes are the entrances. These 
lamps are simply ordinary paraffine lamps w T ith the 
usual burners, but of course without a chimney. 
Above these the metal is bright, and the heat arising 
from the flame, which can be turned sufficiently low 
as not to smoke, can easily heat the water in the tank. 
The egg drawer is placed between the two lamp 
compartments, and is sufficiently large to hold 100 
eggs. In the bottom of this drawer grass sods are 
placed, or earth, if that be more easily obtained, and 
kept constantly moist ; above this a layer of straw is 
laid, on which the eggs are put. Yentilation is given 
over the ends and back of this drawer. 

We see no reason whatever why this machine should 
not succeed, if kept in a proper place. It is natural to 
suppose that it will require more attention than either 
a regulating or a hot water machine, as in one there is 
some way of keeping the heat fairly even by means of 
a regulator, and in the other by the great body of 
water, but if kept in a room where the temperature 
is pretty even, we should not despair of hatching with 
it. "Whilst believing that a few degrees variation will 
do no great harm, so long as the heat is not allowed 



The Voitellier Incubator. 87 

to rise too much, we certainly think that the steadier the 
heat can be kept the better, and there is a danger now 
of neglecting the old desire for uniform heat, and 
flying to the other extreme, which must have its due 
attention. 

The great fault in this machine is the defective 
ventilation. It is unwise to expect that the fresh air 
will run up one side, traveling over all sorts of odd 
corners, and finding its exit in the same manner. 
Some better provision ought certainly to be made, as 
this is one of the most important points to be attended 
to in all incubators, and without it, success will be 
ever uncertain. 

The " Scotia " machine is very reasonable in price, 
costing only £2 10s. for a 100 egg machine. 

THE VOITELLIER INCUBATOR. 

This machine shares the unenviable notoriety of 
having completely failed at the Hemel Hempstead 
Tournament of Incubators in 1878, and, although 
previously well known, its reputation received too 
severe a blow to very rapidly recover a place in public 
estimation. Its inventor claims its principle of being 
a "hot nest" alone, as entirely novel in artificial 
hatching. In a report to the French National Acad- 



88 Artificial Incubation. 

emy of Agriculture, M. Joubert says, that he looks 
upon the Voitellier " as a true farm incubator, being 
as plain and durable as a plow or churn." This is 
true. He further says, that " the roughest-handed 
farm servant can take the management of it without 
fear of injury to its working." Be it now our duty 
to describe the machine and relate our experience 
with it, in order that our readers may, for themselves, 
determine how far we can indorse the latter statement. 
A strong deal chest, 33 inches square and 21 inches 
deep, contains a cylindrical zinc cistern packed tightly 
round with sawdust ; this hot-water tank is a foot 
in depth, and has 20 inches inside diameter. It exactly 
fits, and rests upon a circular wooden frame 4 inches 
in height, and this is the " hatching nest " (the 
English trade-mark), in which eggs are placed without 
any contact with the hot metal. It will hold 100 
ordinary fowl eggs, or between 70 and 80 duck eggs. 
Two movable glazed frames, fitting the one over the 
other, are provided at the top of the machine, allowing 
either of access to the eggs when lifted off, or of a 
glance at the thermometer, leaning upright inside, at 
any time without opening. The inlet pipe is at the 
right hand top corner, and the only outlet tap is at the 
bottom. In the center of the front is a pipe to 
supply air, but the latter is always warmed before 



The Voitellier Incubator. 89 

being admitted to the incubator, by reason of a con- 
siderable length of the pipe running alongside of the 
cistern. The aii has no direct contact either with the 
eggs, inasmuch as the pipe rises 9 inches inside, and a 
current is secured at the top by the aid of a very 
small piece of piping through which (in the published 
theory) it is supposed that the steam from the hot 
water escapes, and so damps the eggs sufficiently. 
Suffice it here to remark, that were this the only 
moisture supplied, the percentage of hatchings would 
be small indeed. The cistern holds 20 gallons of 
water. The nest is prepared by placing fodder, or 
bracken, on a layer of sand, or gravel, an inch in 
thickness. The latter is kept damp, and thus the 
atmosphere in the machine should not only be always 
of a proper temperature, but moist as well. 

Being a Irydro-incubator, the remarks upon the sup- 
ply of hot water made upon the Christy machine are 
equally applicable to the Voitellier. No rule can be laid 
down to guide an unskilled operator in water changing, 
but practice soon gives him the requisite " knack" of 
telling from a glance at the thermometer how much 
he will require to carry him on, either through the 
day time, or night, as the case may be. In any 
regular establishment for artificial incubation, where a 
quantity of machines are working, and every requi- 



90 Artificial Ixcubation. 

site is to hand, with constant attention and careful 
supervision, of course this difficulty must be overcome 
entirely, and all irregularities of temperature would 
disappear. We are supposing that an amateur has a 
single machine. 

Care has to be taken when the top lids are 
off for the purpose of attending to the eggs, that the 
latter are not exposed for too long a time. The inside 
cistern-surface is so large to come in contact with the 
outer air of a lower temperature, that it loses a 
large proportion of its heat rapidly, and when the 
covers are replaced, and boiling water run in, consider- 
able time seems to elapse before the effect on the 
inner air is appreciable. This danger points the reader, 
however, to the ease with which too high a temperature 
is remedied. " 'No top contact," is M. Voitellier's 
principle, so that no alteration can well be made in his 
machine in this respect, but, in our opinion, it consti- 
tutes a danger requiring more delicate care and judg- 
ment than " the roughest-handed farm laborer " (as a 
rule) is possessed of. Nature is not imitated without 
top-contact. Here the eggs are subjected to a moist 
heat of 104 degs., and according as they contain germs 
of strong or weak constitutions, hatchings take place 
more or less freely. 



Boyle's Machine. 91 

That the Voitellier deserves a measure of success 
is testified to by the important results experts are 
claimed to have obtained with it, and we may reasonably 
hope that its inventor may yet prove, in an open com- 
petition, that in his hands it will perform its work as 
creditably as it has hitherto done in his own coun- 
try. It is, in many respects, a convenient incubator ; 
its air supply requires no regulation ; its arrangements 
for moisture are simple and effective, apparently ; its 
price is tolerably moderate ; the thermometer can be 
consulted with ease and without exposing eggs ; and 
the young chicks are provided with a nest, which 
seems in every way suitable to them from the moment 
of chipping to that of hatching out. Against these 
merits must be weighed the close attention it requires, 
as well as the large quantity of boiling water. Still 
if hydro-incubators are not toys, but elements of com- 
mercial enterprise, the last consideration would not be 
worth a thought, as proper appliances would be abso- 
lutely requisite. 

boyle's machine. 

One of the greatest difficulties that experimentalists 
in artificial incubation have met with has been in the 
regulation of heat, and until very recently it was 



92 Artificial Incubation. 

thought that if the heat could be kept even, the whole 
thing was done. 

The Boyle incubator is about 2 feet square and 3 
feet high, having at each side a shelf with small 
mothers for the chickens. A door, occupying about 
half the entire front, on being opened displays the 
working apparatus, which consists of a boiler, under 
which room is given for the placing of the lamp or gas 
burner, and in front of it is fixed the regulator. Above 
this door are two smaller doors which open and form 
a slide, upon which the egg tray can rest when drawn 
out. These latter serve a double purpose, being in the 
first place the means of getting to the hatching box, 
which is simply a circular tray with 2 inch sides, and 
covered with a piece of perforated wood, in which the 
eggs are placed wrapped in flannel as soon as they are 
chipped. The doors, when open, show the bottoms of 
the eggs in the egg tray, and are also used for regulat- 
ing the temperature at the bottom of the eggs, which 
is done by closing or opening them. 

The hatching box is placed on the top of the boiler 
beneath the egg drawer. The egg tray is a perforated 
tray made of tin, the holes in which are about the size 
of an egg, but to prevent the eggs falling through, 
narrow strips of tin are fixed, so that the eggs are 
about half above and half below the tray. Upon the 



Boyle's Machine. 93 

tray small metal cups are placed, and being kept filled 
with water, charge the air in the egg drawer with 
moisture. Above the drawer are a series of arches, 
under which the eggs slide, the object being to make 
the heat above the eggs as even as possible. The 
whole machine presents a neat appearance, and is 
finished in a first-class manner. 

The most important and valuable part of the ma- 
chine is the regulator. 

This regulator works with the greatest nicety, and 
is never failing in its action. It could be left for a 
week without needing attention if it was set at the 
right temperature. We have known it work for a 
month with every kind of weather during that period, 
and the egg drawer not vary above 3 or 4 degrees, 
whilst the regulator will not vary half a degree. In 
fact, we do not know of any regulator — excepting an 
electric one — which we dare leave with the same con- 
fidence for any length of time. We have done some 
very good work, indeed, with it, hatching as far as 80 
per cent of eggs placed in it, i. e. leaving out the un- 
fertile and broken ones. We have italicized the word 
broken, because we wish to call special attention to 
what we must consider one of the defects of the ma- 
chine. 



94 Artificial Incubation. 

There is one thing which has worked against the 
success of this machine, and that is the price, consider- 
ing the few eggs it holds. The egg drawer is only 
perforated for 42 eggs, and as the price is about £15 
15s., only those in command of plenty of money could 
afford to purchase one. We do not say for one moment 
that it is too high in price considering the work there 
must be in the making of it, but few people care to 
spend so much for, what is to them, a thing of doubt- 
ful success. 

The qualities which must ever recommend this 
machine are its compact form and its almost, nay 
perfect, regulator. There are several improvements 
which could easily be made in it. To our mind the 
greatest defect is the egg drawer, which is both com- 
plicated and useless. If, instead of having a tray such 
as it now has, it had perforated zinc, the object for 
which the tray is so made, namely, the keeping cool 
of the bottom of the eggs, would be gained. The 
arches under which the tray slides are also useless, 
and the cause of very great annoyance and vexation. 
We have had scores of eggs in various stages broken 
by these arches, and often have been exasperated al- 
most to frenzy by seeing eggs with lively and healthy 
chicks in them, within a day or two of hatching, 
broken in this way, and it could not be attributed to 



Penman's Patent Incubator. 95 

carelessness, for if an egg was a large one, it was 
scarcely possible to keep it whole to the end. The 
hatching box is not by any means perfection, and we 
think the substitution of an under heat for the top 
heat, after the egg has chipped, tends to cramp in the 
chicken's legs, and to prevent weakly chicks from 
hatching out at all. If the egg drawer was altered, 
as we have suggested, there would be no need what- 
ever for a hatching box, as a piece of flannel might be 
thrown over the eggs as soon as they were chipped, 
and would answer all the purposes required. We 
would also advise the keeping of a dish of water on 
the top of the boiler below the egg drawer, to keep 
the air moist. We think 102 degrees over heat, and 
99 degrees under heat, the best for successful hatching 
with this machine. 



The incubator we are about to describe was first in- 
troduced to the public two years ago, being the in- 
vention of a gentleman resident in Newcastle-upon- 
Tyne, who has studied the question many years, and 
been most successful in hatching. It won the silver 
medal at the Dairy Show in October, 1877, for the 
best incubator in action, but at the Hem el Hempstead 



96 Artificial Incubation. 

tournament in 1878 neither of the machines sent there 
succeeded in hatching a single chick, although the 
day after the competition was over, a large number 
of five birds were found in the eggs. 

The following is the description of the principle of 
the machine as taken from the prospectus : — 

" It appears that every failure (in artificial incuba- 
tion) must be attributed to attempts made to improve 
upon nature, instead of imitating her wonderful work- 
ings. In the case of the egg she has ordained the 
germ (so long as it is kept in a horizontal position) to 
float uppermost within and against the shell, in order 
that it may meet the genial warmth of the breast of 
the fowl. We must, therefore, in incubation, apply 
warmth to that part only, and of the degree determined 
by nature. A fowl of any kind prefers to incubate 
upon the ground. .Nature having supplied the egg 
with only a limited quantity of moisture, has thus 
arranged to prevent evaporation from a large surface, 
as the egg is only warm at the point in contact with 
the fowl, until the blood vessels, searching for nourish- 
ment for the embryo, have surrounded the inner sur- 
face of the shell, when the whole egg becomes gradu- 
ally warm, and eventually of an equal temperature by 
means of the circulation of the blood through these 
vessels. We must, in a word, apply the same degree 



Penman's Patent Incubatok. 97 

of heat as nature, and in the same manner — ' by top- 
contact' ; and, like her, allow the interior portion of 
the egg to remain cool, until warmed by the inward 
circulation of the blood. The difference between 
' top-contact heat ' and that received from 'radiation,' 
as applied to hatching, is this : by radiation, or oven 
heat, the eggs will be hours arriving at the desired 
temperature, not only when first put to hatch, but at 
every time afterward when they have been allowed 
to get cool. The egg will, of course, heat alike over 
its whole surface, and, consequently, evaporate equally 
from every part. On the contrary, heat applied in 
' top-contact,' penetrates almost instantly and revivifies 
the germ. 

" To carry out this principle, so intelligently given 
in the above paragraph, Mr. Cantelo, about thirty 
years ago, after many experiments and much consider- 
ation, found that the best way of applying the ' top- 
contact heat' to eggs during incubation was by a cur- 
rent of water flowing over an impermeable or water- 
proof cloth, beneath which the eggs are placed ;" and 
it is a pity that in the article from which the above 
extract is taken no reference is made to the success 
which he achieved. 

" In constructing the incubator now brought before 
the public, the above principle has been constantly 



98 Artificial Incubation. 

kept in view and strictly carried out ; for there is no 
radiating or oven heat maintained, and no egg will 
be hatched in it that is not brought into top-contact 
with the source of heat." 

Upon the face of the matter it will be seen that this 
machine, in respect to contact, is the only one which 
follows nature, and there is no doubt that the 
principle is a correct one, as the only heat received by 
an egg from the hen is certainly where she touches it. 
The difficulty which Cantelo experienced was, that 
the water-proof cloth began to bag because of the 
weight of water, and this, when it did so to a great 
extent, crushed the eggs in the process of hatching, or 
smothered the chickens as they were hatched. He 
was obliged eventually to give up the cloth, and sub- 
stituted glass for it. But his machine, like many 
others, from some cause or another, passed into obliv- 
ion, and only the older generation of fanciers have any 
remembrance of it. 

Mr. Penman, in his experiments, found that india- 
rubber was the best thing he could iind for his pur- 
pose, and in spite of many objections which have been 
made to it, he has proved that, if properly washed be- 
fore being used, all objectionable smell arising from 
the sulphur is taken away. But even india-rubber in 
time bags considerably. 



Penman's Patent Incubator. 99 

This incubator is made in three sizes for 50, 100 
and 200 eggs respectively, the latter being the size 
first made. The two larger sizes we have been very 
successful with, the smaller one we have never tried 
ourselves, although others have, but with very varying 
results. 

The machine — we are describing the medium one — 
is oblong in shape, and about 30 inches high, having 
the appearance of a wooden frame. In the front are 
seen the two trays covering the water compartment, the 
thermometer, the egg trays, and the mother and run • 
the boiler, regulator, and lamp or gas jet, being fixed 
at the back. On removing one of the trays, the 
india-rubber sheet, the water, and the regulation pipes 
immersed in the water are exposed, and the shape of 
the eggs, on which the rubber is lying, can be seen. 
The rubber is fixed into a wooden frame, and exactly 
midway three holes are placed, connected with a metal 
tube, through which the water comes after being heated 
in the boiler. At each end are two holes, connected 
with pipes, which carries the cooler water to the 
mother, after which it passes to the boiler to be re- 
heated, so that a constant circulation is taking place. 
Upon the under side of this frame are fixed the egg 
trays, which are held in position by a wire pin and a 
hook. These trays are made of zinc, with two rows 



100 Artificial Incubation. 

of holes for the admission of air both above and below 
the eggs. A smaller tray is fixed inside, made of per- 
forated zinc, beneath which damp soil is placed to give 
the necessary moisture. The regulator is a very ingen- 
ious contrivance, and can be made to work very effect- 
ually. The lamp consists of a pill-box-shaped brass 
vessel, upon one side of which is placed a flexible dia- 
phragm, which, being connected by a fine rod to a 
slide cut Y shape, reduces the flame of the wick if 
pressed over it, or if drawn back from it, allows more 
flame to appear. In the gas machine there are two 
brass vessels, one of which is worked in the same man- 
ner as for lamp, but the rod is connected with the dia- 
phragm of the opposite vessel, on the inner side of 
which a fine brass pin is fixed, and which, when 
pressed in, exactly fits into a fine hole, and reduces the. 
supply of gas (admitted by a pipe on the top) to the 
burner. In both instances the regulating power is 
water or spirit, inclosed in the tubes mentioned as be- 
ing seen when the tray was removed, which, having 
no outlet, and being connected with the first-named 
brass vessel by a small pipe, when the water expands 
or contracts by the rising or falling of the heat, moves 
the diaphragm, and this acts as the regulator. It is 
necessary, however, to have four or at least three of these 
regulation pipes, to give a sufficient body of water or 



Penman's Patent Incubator. 101 

it will not be susceptible enough. We think this was 
the secret of the failure of this incubator at Hemel 
Hempstead last year, as the machines sent there had 
only two tubes, and, as a consequence, the tempera- 
ture was very variable. In our own experiments, we 
have found the same thing occur, when there were 
only two tubes for regulation. 

The merits of this machine are, the capital arrange- 
ments for giving the necessary moisture, and the eggs 
being heated by actual contact. We think an im- 
provement might be made in the fixing of the india- 
-rubber, as it bags very considerably after being used 
for a season. This could be done by fixing rods of 
wire below it at intervals, but there would have to be 
corresponding partitions in the egg trays, to prevent 
the eggs from touching and being broken by these 
wires. It would also be an advantage to do away 
with the mother altogether, as it is too boxed up, or 
to make it more open, and to close in the sides and 
front of the machine, as the egg trays are too much 
exposed, for in very cold weather the eggs are chilled 
when against the sides of the trays. If these improve- 
ments were made, and four tubes used for the regula- 
tor, it would be a very good and useful machine. 

Its success at the autumn show of the Northumber- 
land Agricultural Society and the Dairy Show held at 



102 Artificial Incubation. 

Islington, London, in 1877, were severe tests, for at 
the latter eggs were taken in process of incubation 
from Newcastle to London, and there hatched in the 
Agricultural Hall. In conclusion, we may say that 
for a perfect regulating and working incubator, we 
should think Boyle' s regulator and Penman's incuba- 
tor would be unequaled. 

From the foregoing pages, our readers can obtain a 
very correct idea of the progress made in England in 
this specialty, and by comparison can readily see how 
far we are in advance of our English cousins. 



Artificial Mothers. 103 



CHAPTER X. 

Artificial Mothers. 

" Foster mothers " they might well be called, and 
the experience of many breeders has been that they 
are much to be preferred to the hen. They are a very 
useful appendage to the poultry yard in more ways 
than one, even though you may not use an incubator. 

The hen has enjoyed her needed rest from her ordi- 
nary duties of laying, while employed for three weeks 
in hatching the eggs — and now the young chicks 
when twenty-four hours old can be removed to the 
artificial mother, and the hen, returned to the laying 
house, to again resume her usual duties. 

In the artificial mother it is a much easier task to 
feed and care for the young chicks, and to protect them 
from vermin and rats, the scourges of the poultry-yard. 
The chickens are completely under your control, and 
are not being tramped to death by some booted Mon- 
golian, or picked to death by the ferocious game, into 
whose coop the unfortunate little fellow may have 
accidentally strayed. 



104 Artificial Incubation. 

If you are rearing chickens upon a large scale, the 
mothers will be found to be almost an absolute neces- 
sity, and extensive breeders who have used them, are 
of the opinion that the artificial is to be preferred to 
the natural hen. They are certainly a great econ- 
omizer of labor and time, and many things can be said 
in their favor. For their use, there should be a proper 
house provided, with light ventilation, and in cold or 
damp weather, the proper heat and temperature should 
be maintained by use of a small stove ; keep a dry at- 
mosphere, avoid draughts, and success can be readily 
attained in raising fine, healthy chicks. 

The use of artificial mothers has answered the in- 
quiry often made, as to how we shall rear the young 
chicks after they are hatched out, for success as much 
depends upon successfully rearing them, as any thing 
else. 

Another question often asked, is, how do they learn 
to eat 1 An easy matter, surely ; if they do not readily 
eat when twenty -four hours old, one or two chickens 
somewhat older can be placed with them, and they will 
readily learn. 






Care of the Chicks. 105 



CHAPTEK XI. 

Cake of the Chicks. 

It seems to be an easy thing to bring the little fel- 
lows into existence ; and the question then arises, how 
shall we care for them, and successfully rear them '? 
In this, as well as in incubation, common sense is a de- 
sideratum. Much thought and labor have been devoted 
to this subject for many years by men of practical 
experience ; and various devices have been invented 
to protect and care for the chicks, some of which we 
have described in the previous pages. The young 
chicks should be removed from the incubator to the 
brooder when from twelve to fifteen hours old, and 
then require their first feed, which should be com- 
posed of hard=boiled eggs, bread crumbs, wet up 
with a little milk. Even if their first feed is delayed 
a few hours longer it will not be at all prejudicial to 
their welfare. We have many inquiries asking how 
we shall learn them to eat; to such, we say, it any 
thing is "natural" in this world, it is the knowledge 



106 Artificial Incubation. 

all animals have, of " how to eat." As the chicks grow 
and thrive they should be provided with as varied a 
diet as possible, and fed at regular intervals, and as 
often as circumstances will permit. If it can be 
arranged for the first few weeks, the following would 
be a good schedule: five, nine, twelve, a. m., three, 
six and nine, p. m., and if they can have a feed later 
than that, at night, so much the better. Early chickens 
are very important to all poultry-keepers, and in no way 
can they be so well secured as by giving every possible 
care to the way in which they are fed and managed, 
from the time they leave the shell, until they are fit 
for broilers, or able to care for themselves. The sim- 
plicity .and certainty with which these results can be 
accomplished is apparent to those who have given the 
subject any study at all. If the chicks are confined 
to the brooder and dry runs, they should be provided 
with grain food ; and as soon as old enough should be 
allowed a grass run. But be sure that it is protected 
against rats, cats, hawks and the various enemies of the 
poultry yard. Lettuce chopped fine is the best substitute 
for green grass, and young cabbage sproi>ts, chopped 
onions and potato mash have always been very valu- 
able. 

Milk is one of the most beneficial things that can 
possibly be fed to chickens, young or old ; and they 



Cabe of the Chicks. 107 

cannot have too much of it, though it should not be 
given them to the exclusion of water. In the early 
spring months it will be found very desirable to warm 
the milk that is given to them, especially if early in 
the morning ; it will serve as an excellent stimulant. 
The longer the little attentions we have named can 
be continued to them, the better they will thrive and 
the greater will be the results that will be attained. 
As soon as they begin to relish it, finely-chopped 
meat will also prove very beneficial to them, and con- 
ducive to their growth and stamina of constitution. 
As they grow up, the dry grains should be substituted 
as rapidly as possible for the wet food, and it will do 
much to prevent gapes, and a dozen little aiknents 
that chicken flesh is heir to. A good rule to observe 
in feeding them is to only give them, each time, just 
what they will eat up clean, and keep their appetites 
good, and thus prevent them from getting cloyed on 
any kind of food. A requisite in the raising of chick- 
ens is dry quarters ; dampness in any form they can- 
not stand, and care and judgment should be exercised 
in this particular. Better not attempt to do any thing 
if you are to leave it half done, and better not at- 
tempt to rear chickens unless you have a suitable place 
for them, and are prepared to give them the care and 
attention that they will most certainly demand. Not 



108 Aktificial Incubation. 

the slightest difficulty need be experienced in the rear- 
ing of chickens artificially, if you will only give it 
proper thought, attention and common sense. That 
it is economy, none can question ; time is saved in 
feeding, time is saved in care, and the life of many 
a luckless chick saved from the heavy feet of the 
mother, and dozens of similar causes. That they are 
being more and more used each year is plainly appa- 
rent to all who have made the subject a study, and 
that incubators and brooders are revolutionizing the 
poultry interests is no longer a question. 

DISEASES, PREVENTION AND CURE. 

Few diseases occur where the proper precautions 
are used ; and they are generally produced by cold, 
dampness, filth or want of care. 

Diarrhcea is caused by just the things we have 
noted, it can usually be checked by giving boiled rice, 
with which a little powdered chalk has been mixed. 
Give a little cayenne pepper in their food, and add a 
few drops of camphor to their drinking water. 

Cramps. Remove to a thoroughly dry warm place 
and bathe their limbs with Pond's Extract, which we 
have found to be a valuable auxiliary to the poultry- 
man's medicine chest. 



Cake of the Chicks. 109 

Gapes. These are caused by small worms lodging in 
the wind-pipe. They may often be removed by use of 
a horse-hair loop, and often may be destroyed by 
using a few drops of kerosene oil (use sparingly) or by 
giving a little camphor, or ammonia spirits in their 
drinking water. They rarely trouble chicks properly 
cared for. 

Lice. Dozens of remedies are given to both pre- 
vent and kill lice. One of the oldest we know of has 
proved the best : sulphur and lard, carefully used, 
and kerosene freely applied to roosts and coops. 

Pip. This is a horny scale that appears on the tip of 
the tongue. It may be carefully removed with the fin- 
ger-nail or pen-knife, and is generally caused by some 
stoppage of the breathing apparatus of nose or head, 
causing a dryness in the throat. A wash of " Labba- 
raque's Solution," which can be procured of any drug- 
gist, will be found very beneficial. Chickens affected 
with it will be readily detected by their difficulty of 
breathing, causing a piping, wheezing noise, and it is 
often accompanied with a cold, feverish symptoms and 
foul breath, and may be taken for something worse 
than it really is. 

Roup in young chicks is seldom any thing else than 
a severe cold, and many of the harsh remedies that 
are resorted to should be deprecated. It is usually 



110 Artificial Incubation. 

known by a discharge from the nostrils, eyes, and fetid 
smell from throat. A wash of vinegar, diluted, is 
good, and some simple pill of camphor, ammonia, etc., 
such as are sold by all dealers in poultry supplies, will 
be found efficacious. We have a drawer full of letters 
sent to us by Miller & Co., of Plainfield, X. J., from 
scores of breeders who have used their " Sure Cure 
Roup Pills " with great success. Among the letters 
we recognize the familiar autographs of many promi- 
nent breeders and we feel justified in strongly recom- 
mending the medicine to those who may need a 
remedy of the kind. The formula they use is one that 
has been used successfully for years in England and 
France, and unhesitatingly indorsed by the fraternity. 



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H. W. AXFORD & COMPANY, 

45th Street and Langley Ave., Chicago, Ills. 



A NEW BOOK! 




£ij|8on. 



A HANDSOME BOOK COMPILED BY 

vJ. IF. IF IE IR, IR, I S , 

(Editor of "THE POULTRY MONTHLY,") 

From the writings of the late Judge Joel Willard, of 
Utica, N. T., with chapters on Care and Management of 
Pigeons in Health and Disease, by J. C. Long, Jr., of New 
York, and a description of a Pigeon Loft by P. S. Hunter, 
of Virginia, with an introductory chapter by Chas. R. 
Harker, of New Hampshire. The whole forming the most 
interesting and instructive work upon this subject ever written 
in the English Language. 

A fine engraving of Judge Willard, and other illustrations 
of a high character, adorn the work. 

Price FIFTY GENTS in Heavy Paper Covers, SEVENTY- 
FIVE CENTS in Substantial Cloth, and ONE DOLLAR for 
our very Finest Edition superbly bound in cloth and gilt. 

Address 

FERRIS PUBLISHING COMPANY, 

ALBANY, N. Y. 






RIPLEY, OHIO. 




AND 



IMPORTED 



WHITE LEGHORNS. 



C. W. CANFIELD, 

ATHENS, PENNA. 



Pedigree Essex Pigs 



COTSWOLD SHEEP. 

Joseph Harris, author of "Harris on 
the Pig," says of my Boar, Porter, 
that he is the finest Essex Pig he ever 
saw. 



B. Leghorns, and B. B. R. G. Bantams, 

Winners at Cortland and Syracuse, 
Jan, 1880. Eggs, $2 per 13. .Rab- 
bits, Pigeons and Guinea Pigs. Young 
stock always for sale. Satisfaction 
guaranteed, and personal inspection 
of my stock is desired. 



Pedigree and First Premium 

LIGHT BRAHMAS, 

THffiE-FACH) BLACK SPAH1SH, 

AND 

Standard Game Fowls. 

BRED BT 

ROBERT HOWARD, 

Prospect Hill, North Adams, Mass. 

Send for Circular. 



W. H, CUNNINGHAM, 

CHENANGO BRIDGE, N.Y., 

BREEDER OF 

LANGSHANS! 

From Imported Stock, pure Chinese 
Strain. Also 

PLYMOUTH ROCKS. 

EGSS AND CHICKS FOE SALE. 



• 


• 


VALUABLE 


LIBRARY 


OF THE BEST WORKS UPON 


POCLTRI, PIGEONS, DOGS AND SMALL PETS. 


POULTRY 




Wright's Practical Poultry Keeper, 


$2 00 


Felch's Amateur Manual of Poultry, 


75 


Lewis' People's Practical Poultry Book, 


1 50 


Standard of Excellence in Poultry, 


1 00 


Saunder's Domestic Poultry, 


40 


Corbin's The Plymouth Rock, 


75 


Harker's Brown Leghorn Fowl, 


30 


Newell's Poultry and Pigeon Directory, 


25 


Felch's Breeding and Management, 


50 


Wright's Brahma Fowl, 


2 50 


Wright's Illustrated Book of Poultry. 
Gray's Cocker's Manual, Revised Edition, 


12 00 


1 50 


Dickie and Merry's Poultry Cholera Manual 


25 


McDougall on the Game Fowl, 


50 


Bucklin's 


Historical and Poetical Catalogue 


25 



PIGEONS, DOGS, ETC. 

Wright's Practical Pigeon Keeper, 1 50 

The Practical Rabbit Keeper, 1 50 

The Book of Dogs, in parts, each, 50 

Fulton's Illustrated Book of Pigeons, 12 00 

The Homing Pigeon, 50 

Moore's CoTumbarian (exact copy of original) 1 25 

The Practical Kennel Guide. Dr. G, Stables, 1 50 

The Dog, by Idstone, 1 50 

Dog8 of Great Britain , America, etc., 2 00 

The Blessed Bees. By John Allen., 100 

Canaries and Cage Birds, 25 parts, each, 50 

Holden's Book of Birds, - 25 

The American Bird Fancier, 30 

Samuel's Birds of New England, 4 00 

Canary Birds; paper, 50c; cloth, 75 

Bement's Rabbit Fancier, 30 

Rabbit Book for the Many, 25 

All Books sent postage paid. Address 

iillll MlMtilll I 

ALBANY, N. Y. 



CHARLES A. MILLS, 

S. WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS. 

Lt.Brahmas & Plymouth Rocks 

EGGS, $3 PER 13. 

BIRDS FOE SALE AT ALL TIMES. 



EGGS1_EGGS!I 

W. C. B. and Buff Laced Polish, W. 
Brown and Black Leghorns, Silkies 
and Aylesbnry Ducks. My stock I 
purchased direct from W. H. Todd, J. 
B. Smith, and other noted breeders. 

I have just bought R. C. Bridgham's entire 
stock of W . C. B. Polish. Among the lot are Im- 
ported Cock and 1st and 2,'- premium Hens, at 
Boston, Hartford, New Haven and Pittsfield 
Shows, 1879. Also an imported Buff Polish Cock. 



S, E. HOWLAM), Sclmyleryiile, if. Y. 

Watertown, N. Y. Drawer 322. 

BREEDER OF HIGH CLASS 



mmm 



PLYMOUTH ROCKS, 
DARK BRAHMAS, BLACK B. R. HAME 

BANTAMS and ROUEI* DUCKS. 
My breeding stock has been carefully selected 
from the best strains in the country, and can 
furnish Eggs in season, caretullv packed to ensure 
safe delivery; and satisfaction guatanteed. Cor- 
respondence a pleasure and promptly answered. 



J. SATTERTHWAITE, Jr., 

JENKINTOWN, PA., 

Breeder of HSgOa. Class 

Poultry, Jersey Cattle, 

BERKSHIRE PIGS. 



GAMES a specialty, from the best 
Strains in the country. 



Orchard Poultry Yards, 

C. K. BOND, Manager, 

OAKVILLE, COKN". 

Pure Bred, High Class 

PARTRIDGE, BLACK, WHITE 

and BUFF COCHINS, and 

PEKIN DUCKS. 

EGGS, $2 PER SITTING. 



They are the Largest and Best. 



Canadian Headquarters 

TOR 

High Cliss Breeding and Exhibition Birds for sale. 
EGGS $2.50 per 13. Send for Circular. 



"W. STAHLSCHMIDT 
PRESTON, ONT. 



H. F. STODDARD & CO., 

PLYMOUTH, MASS. 

TWELVE VARIETIES OP 



Send for circular descriptive of stock. 
EGGS FOR SAXE. 



Ic K. IBMffinLKDIHL 



BREEDER OF 



Light Brahmas, Plymouth Rocks, 

DARK BRAHMAS, P. COCHINS, 
Leghorns f B. B. B. G. Bantams, 



AND 



SHEPHERD DOGS. 



HEAD r 



^he 3f elch JMiw* Mf $$ &&$$$*#$ exhibited 
in J 9 Exhibitions the past show season, had a possible 
ehanee to win 93 itftjizes — they won 84 itfqizes. ^his has 
nevet[ been done by any otheq $tt{ain in $met[iea. 

NATICK, MASS. 



E2CLTJSITELY. 

My Breeding Stock for 1880, consists of 1 pen pure Felch, 1 pen pure 
Autocrat, and 1 pen mostly the blood of the famous Sturtevant Hens. The 
male birds, four in number, are all Premium winners, and have scored in 
Exhibitions as follows: 94>£, 95, 95% and 97% points. Eggs $3 per sitting. 
Fowls and Chicks for sale. 

J. To MORGAN, Wilkesbarre, Fa. 



Montvue Poultry Yards, 

BEOOKLANDVILLE, BALTO CO., MD. 

Choice pure bred Poultry: L.Brahmas, 
Partridge Cochins, Houdans, W. and 
B. Leghorns, Pencilled Hamburgs, 
Sultans, B. B. R. Games, Dominiques, 
Plymouth Rocks, Game Bantams, and 
Narragansett Turkeys. My copy of A. 
P. A. Members (group) post-paid, $1. 
Circulars on application. Address as 
above. 

a. O. BROWN. 



I4NO0HMS, 



I am now Breeding two separate 
strains of Langshans that I imported 
last season; one of Maj. Croads, and 
the other of Sir Robert Brizoo, the two 
largest Langshan Breeders of England. 
They are destined to occupy a leading 
position among the choice breeds of 
this country. Eggs and Chicks in their 
season. 

GEO. E. SEAW, Alburn, W.T. 



J. H.DlCKERMAN, 

JAMAICA PLAIN, MASS. 




Eggs, $3.00 per Sitting, 

The true " Drake " blood. Breeding 
Birds score from 87^ to 93%. 



L. 33. EJL^Y, Jr., 

ROCHESTER, N.Y 

Jersey Cattle and Berkshire Swine. 

White Leghorn, Plymouth Rock, 

Silver Spangled and White 

Hamburgh Fowls. 



Stoci, Fowls aid Eggs for Sale. 



W.C.SHAPLEY, 

Carlisle, Pa., 
Breeder of Choice High Class Poultry. 



LIGHT BRAHMAS, 

B. Leghorns &W. F. Black Spanish. 

Eggs carefully packed in Baskets at 
$1.5t) per 13. Chicks for sale after 
September 1st. 



CHARLES fit. HALL, 

NEW M1LFORD, CONN. 



Lt. Brahmas. Brown Leghorns, 

CHICKS F02 SALE TALL OF 1880. 
A few Eggs this Spring at $2.50 per 13. 



sure: cure 



•?• 



The great Trench and English Roup Pill, now manufactured and 
sold in this country for the first time! Its success is beyond precedent, for 
it NEVER FAILS ! They are prepared direct from the English formula by 
practical chemists. Full directions with each box. 

PEICES r 

Small boxes, - - - - $0 25 post-paid. 

Large boxes, ... . 50 " 

Extra size, 200 pills, - - - - 1 00 " 

Small size, per dozen, t - 2 00 " 

Large size, per dozen, - • - 3 75 " 



Key to Health I The Great Roup Preventive ! ! 

Put up in large boxes at 25 and 50 cents per box. If you once try a box you 
will never be without it. Prepared and sold by 

miller & ooiM::p.A.2sr3r, 

PLAINFIELD, N. J. 



ELBRIDGE C. COMEY, 

Originator of the "Duke of Yore" Strain of 

Which Is UNSURPASSED for ils PERFECT MARKINGS, GREAT SIZE, 
SUPERIOR LAYING and NON-SITTING QUALITIES. 



I make a specialty of Light Brahmas, having bred them continuously 
since 1861, during which time I have neither spared time nor money in their 
improvement; and, although not an exhibitor, I have sold yearly large 
numbers, which have won the HIGHEST PKEMIUMS at the leading Exhi- 
bitions of the country. 

jjgif^My "Light Brahmas" are raised on farms, where they have 
unlimited range, giving them a vigorous constitution, which is very 
desirable in breeding stock. 

First-class specimens for sale at all times, at reasonable prices, for 
Exhibition or Breeding (and when desired, properly mated to insure best 
results for breeding). 

Eggs sold from selected Breeders, during hatching seasons, for 85 per 
sitting of thirteen, $10 for three sittings, carefully packed, and 
delivered to express in Boston. 

Also imported Yorkshire Terrier Dogs, from the most celebrated 
Stock in England. No circulars. Write for wants. 

EEBRIDGE C. COMEY, No. 4 Granite St., Somerville, Mass. 



E. HALSTED BLACKETT 

LAWLOS, IA„ 

Breeds from Imported Stock, 



Exhibition Game Fowls, 

AXD 

Game Bantams. 

Also, best American Strains of 

PIT O-^-iyCBS- 

Steel G.iff», nny style, $4.50 per Pair. 

EGGS, $3.00 PER THIRTEEN. 

Fowls always for Sale. 




WE WERE AWARDED 

First on Chicks at Wilkesbarre, Pa., 

AND 

First oil Chicks at Syracuse, 1 Y. 



We shall breed from two yards, and 
will mate trios not akin, at $15, to be 
delivered in September. 

We guarantee our Langshans to be 
true to name, and as good as the best. 



M. HAYDEN & SON, 

New Milford, Pa. 



Palisade Poultry Yards, 

Schralenbergh, Bergen Co., N. J. 



Light Srahmas & Plymouth Rocks 

EXCLTJSIYELT. 

Stock first quality. Eggs in season. 
Write for what is wanted to 

C. S. COOPER. 



SILAS L.ALBERTSON 

KOSLYH, IMIJ ISLAND, H.7. 



Aristocrat Black Spanish. 

EGGS, $2.00 PEE SITTING. 

No Circulars. Write for wants. 



B. IR. BLACK, 

MULLICA HILL, N. J. 

Plymouth Rocks&B. Leghorns 

A SPECIALTY. 

On the basis of Large Experience, 
Fine Stock, Low Prices, and Fair 
your patronage is solicited. 



WM.G.ROOT, 

PITTSPIELD, MASS. 

langshans and P. Rocks ! 



EGGS IN SEASON. 



THE ECLIPSE 

SELF-RECULATING 




INCUBATOR. 

IMPROVED THIS SEASON. 

Every one who keeps poultry for profit 
should have this Incubator. Clean, 
thoroughly ventilated, practical and a 
handsome piece of furniture for the 
house. 

j^-SEND FOR CIRCULAR. 

THE ECLIPSE INCUBATOR CO., 

Box 109, WALTHAM, MASS. 



Exclusively. 




Send stamp for Illustrated Circular. 

EGGS: 

$2 per dozen, or &3 for 2 dozen. 

A. F. NIMS, 

Canton, St. Lawrence Co., N. Y. 



C. A. KEEFER, 

STERLING, - ILLINOIS. 

BREEDER 

I lam**!! im* i 

BROWH LBGfHOHHS 

AND 

BLACK B. R. GAMES I 

My Fowls have been awarded over 300 
prizes at the largest and best Poultry 
Shows in the West, including the great 
Shows of Chicago, Buffalo and Indian 
apolis. 

Fowls and Chicks for sale at all times 
And Eggs for hatching in their season 
from as fine yards of the above rarities 
as there is in America. Illustrated cir 
cular for '80 free, with prices, premium! 
taken, matings for '80, and full descrip 
tion of stock. Satisfaction guaranteed 



Grand Head-Quarters for Rose-Comb 

White |L£ghQffR6i 

The Handsomest, Hardiest, 
Greatest Layers and the most 
Profitable of all the Leghorns ! 



No more unsightly frozen combs 
when these beauties are kept ! If you 
own an Incubator, your business will 
be incomplete without these little lay- 
ing machines to supply your Incu- 
bators with Eggs, in the dead of 
winter. We have taken the greatest 
pains to procure Pure Imported Stock. 
The celebrated Rose-Comb White 
Leghorn Cock, "Genoa Chief," im- 
ported direct from Genoa. Italy, stands 
at the head of our birds of this variety. 



Eggs in Season. Choice diets in Fall. 

SE>D FOR PRICE-LIST. 

R. YANDEOURGH, 

TROY, N. Y. (Box 3.) 



GAME COCKS. 

How to Feed, Heel and Handle 
them, Breeding, Crossing, 
In-and-in Breeding, In- 
fluence of the Sire, 
Descriptions of the Different 
Breeds, Rules of the Pits, 
Illustrated Description 
of Gaffs. 

Ali to be found in 

THE COCKER'S MANUAL, 

A complete and reliable work 
on the Game Fowl. 

Price, $1.50, Postage Paid. 
Ferris Publishing" Company, 

ALBANY, N. Y. 

J^"The trade supplied. 



BAKER'S 



EGG TURNING TRAYS I 



V 



V. 



'PATEHT APPLIED FOE,) 



will 




Highly commended by all the principal makers, and now 
being fitted to their machines in various parts of the country. 

It takes less time, with less risk, than an automatic attach- 
ment. 

Turns One Hundred or One Thousand in one second. 

Shifters made for those Incubators requiring eggs to be 
moved to favor heat. 

Strong Trays Indispensable to all pouitrymen. 

In ordering an Incubator see that you are furnished the 
Baker Tray with it. 

Write for particulars. 

J. S. A. BAKER, 

WEST MERIDEN, CONN. 



Brentwood Poultry Yards. 

W. WflSHUTT, 

BREEDER OF 

High-Class Partridge Cochins 

Dark Brahmas, Plymouth Eocks, 
White and Brown Leghorns, Golden 
Pencilled Hamburgs & Pekin Ducks. 
Eggs of all varieties $2.50 per 13, or 
$4.50 per 26. Address 

Brentwood, Suffolk Co., N.T. 



«t, c. haddock:, 

MICHIGAN CITY, IND., 

BREEDER OF 

HOUDANS, 

White and Black Cochin*, L. Brahmas, 

B. B. Eed Games, Black Eose-Comb 

Bantams and Langshans. 

Eggs and Fowls for sale in season. 



H. 



S. ANDERSON 

UNION SPRINGS. N. Y. 



"WJEIITIE oociiin"©, 

Houdans (pedigree), L. Brahmas, P. 
Eocks, Black Hamburgs, White Leg- 
horns, Black B. E. and White Games, 
B. B. E. and S. D. W. Game Bantams, 
Pekin Ducks, White & Bronze Turkeys 

All first-class, and many of them prize-winners. 
A few pairs, trios and Breeding Pens for sale low, 
quality considered. Eggs after March 1st, packed 
to hatch. Small Yorkshire and Berkshire Pigs. 

CW Write for my prices before buying. 



Rahway Poultry Yards. 
J. D. SHOTWELL, 

BREEDER of standard 

PLYMOUTH ROCKS. 

My Breeding Stock is A 1. I received first pre- 
mium at the N. J. State Poultry Exhibition for 
best Breeding Pen. Every bird in my yards equal 
to those exhibited. Emrs, $2 per sitting. Fowls 
and Chicks after Sept.Tst. 

Address P. 0. Bos 18, Eahwa7, N. J. 



Major A. C. CROADS, 

SOLE AGENT FOR THE U. S.. 

Has for sa'e a book about Langshans, with notes 
by the original importer, Maj. A. C. Croad, and 
an illustration of a piir of his Imported Chinese 
Fowls. Price, 18 cents. Will book orders for 
Fowls or Eggs direct from Maj. Croad's yard, or 
a limited number of Eggs from Langshans im- 
ported direct from his yard: Houdans, American 
Dominiques and Brown Leghorns. Will import 
any rariety of Eggs or Fowls for those who wish. 
Terms strictly cash. Address 

Mrs. R. W. SARGENT, Kittery, 
P. 0. Box 121. York Co., Maine. 



S. BROWN, 

GREENPORT, L. I.. N. Y. 



EXCLTJSIYELT. 

EGGS, $2.00 PER 13. 

Bright Yellow Legs and Beaks, well 
barred and good size. 



E. F. WEBSTER, 

HAVERHILL, MASS., 



BREEDER OF 



Black Cochins and Plymouth Rocks, 

AJso mammoth Bronze Turkeys. 

Keep but first-class stock — will have 
no other. Stock for sale. Eggs in 
season at $2 per sitting of 13 for B. C. 
and P. E. Bronze Turkey Eggs, $4 
per 13. 



ACME POULTRY YARDS, 

ALBION, N. Y. 

PURE BRED BLACK JAVAS ! 

A STRAIN OF NOBLE BIRDS THAT ARE 
BOUND TO TAKE THE LEAD. 

All in want of Stock or Eggs, will 
find it to their interest to get my 
prices. Address, with stamp, 

WM. F. BOSS, Albion, N. Y. 



THE BEST ! 

The Cheapest Because the Best. 



ELIANCE 



NCUBATOR 




PATENT APPLIED FOK. 

No "Water Tank to Eust Out ! 

Not a Hot Air Machine ! 

Indestructible 

BEING MADE OF IRON, COPPER AND STONE. 



For Descriptive Circular and Price-List, address 

JAMES DENNIS, Jr., 

Patentee and Manufacturer, 



86 Meeting St., Providence, R. I. 



THE 



^mmtatt jhmlttjj |mttal 

A 32-PAGE, ILLUSTRATED MONTHLY MAGAZINE, 

DEVOTED TO 

POULTRY, PIGEONS i PET STOCK. 

TT HAS THE LARGEST CORPS OF PRACTICAL BREEDERS as Editors and Correspond- 
JL ents ef any Journal of its class in America, and is the Finest Poultry Journal in the World. 
(Volume 10 began January, 18s0.) Also the Best Advertising Medium in the United States for 
Breeders of Pure Bred Poultry. Subscription, $1.25 per year (each number containing a beauti- 
ful plate of Prize Fowls), strictly in advance. Send 13 cents for specimen copy. 

C. J. WARD, Editor and Proprietor, 

182 CLARK ST., CHICAGO, ILL. 



Ihe American Poultry Food and the American Developing Food 

Prepared by C. J. WAED, 134 Clark Street, Chicago, 111., 

Are offered to the fraternity, and all who breed Fowls, with confidence that they are the purest 
and best manufactured, and that they will keep Fowls, and especially young and growing Chicks, 
free lrom disease and assist them in their growth, as these foods contain all the phosphates that are 
so essential to a strong, healthy and rapid development and growth. The AMERICAN POULTRY 
FOOD is prepared more especially lor adult Fowls, and will keep them in good health, and so pro- 
mote the production of eggs. While this article is good for Fowls of any age, we have prepared 
another food, The AMERICAN DEVELOPING FOOD, Designed Especially for Young Chicks, 
that should be used from the time that they are hatched until they are full grown, as it furnishes 
the chick with all the substance that nature uses to produce bone, flesh and leathers, and in such a 
form that it rapidly assimilates with the blood and so builds up the chicken in a rapid, healthy, 
strong growth. We consider this preparation almost indispensable to breeders of fine Poultry, as 
it brings forward the late hatched chicks very fast, and they get fully fledged and are thus able to 
stand the cold raw weather of the fall and winter, before ..he extreme cold weather begins. We 
give herewith one of the many testimonials in regard to the merits of the food by one of the largest 
and well-known breeders who has used it ; 

Friend Ward — I received the fine package of Poultry Food, for which I wish to say this : I 
think it made from the beit and purest ingredients of any yet out, and its effect good. If used as 
recommended it will produce the best results without the abortive influence I find in some of the 
other egg foods. Yours truly, I. K. FELCH. 



THE PRICES ARE AS FOLLOWS. 

AMERICAN FOCI/TRY FOOD, One pound by mail, - - - - - $ .50 

" " " Five pounds by Express, .... 1.75 

" " " Ten pounds by Express, .... 3.00 
X3T For larger quantities send for special rates. 

AMERICAN DEVELOPING FOOD, One pound by Mail, .... .50 

" " " Five pounds by Express, .... 1.50 

" " " Ten pounds by Express, ... 2.25 
Agents wanted, to whom liberal terms are offered. Address 

C. J. WARD, 182 Clark St., Chicago, 111. 



PLEASANT VALLEY POULTRY YARDS, 

O. J. STODDARD, 

BREEDER OF 

LIGHT" BRAHMA FOWLS 

EXCLUSIVELY. 

I Breed from nothing but what is strictly first-class in every respect. 

My Birds are unsurpassed for purity of blood, hardiness, prolific laying 

qualities, perfect markings, symmetry and style. For further particulars, 

Address me at Busti, Chautauqua Co., N. Y. 

ORDER _A.T OZtsTOIE 

^ht jltattdard of %%tzllzntz. 

Do not try to breed Exhibition Birds without a Copy of the latest edition. 



ONE DOLLAR PER COPY. 



FERRIS PUBLISHING COMPANY, 

ALBANY, IN". Y. 

EVERY POULTRY BREEDER 

SHOULD READ HARKER'S NEW BOOK, 

THE BROWN LEGHORN FOWL 



Its opening chapter is alone worth the price of the book! Price, only 
30 cents, which may be sent to us in postage stamps. 

IFIEIE&IE&IS PTJBLISHING- CO., 

ALBANY, N. Y. 

EUREKA EGG TESTER! 

THE BEST EVER INVENTED! RUBBER! INDESTRUCTIBLE! 
CHEAP ! 



PRICE, 25 OZEHSTTS. 



FERRIS PUBLISHING COMPANY, 

•A.XjIB.A.:LT-X% IfcT. ST. 



16 Principal Premiums at Cincinnati and Indianapolis, 1880, 



AWARDED ME ON 



/*» p 



± 

iff war 

i 



My Breeding Yard contains the winning Birds of the above great Shows 
of the West, besides Prize winners at Boston, Buffalo, Syracuse, Indian- 
apolis and Cincinnati, 1879. 

Eggs, $5.00 per Sitting ; Three Sittings, $10.00. 



-^IL.BEI^ , X , PKENCH, 

P. O. Box 1483. CINCINNATI, O. 

MAPLEHURST, PITTSFIELD, MASS. 

D. G. ROBERTS, Manager. 



H. R. Jerseys, Thoroughbred and Grade Swiss Cattle, 

SOUTH DOWN SHEEP, CHESTER WHITE UNO JERSEY REI PIGS, 

A2TD 

SCOTCH COLLIES. 



Prize-f inning Foils, P. Rods, Dark Brahmas, 

BLACK, G. P. and S. P. HAMBTJRGS ; B. B. R., WHITE and YELLOW 

D. W. GAMES; BLACK JAYAS; B. B. RED, BROWN-RED, 

RED PILE, GOLDEN and SILYER D. W. GAME BANTAMS. 

Stock for sale. Write for what you want, and enclose stamp for reply. 



Oorbett's Incubator. 

45 MEDALS AND DIPLOMAS HAVE BEEN AWARDED IT. 



fi 



8 



c5 



bn 



A 




za 

o 

i 

Kj 

8 

a 

w 



Apparatus of 100 Eggs Capacity and Mother Combined, $25. 

Illustrated Catalogue and official testimonials sent on receipt of postage. 
No agents are needed or appointed. 



Prof. CORBETT'S OFFICE, 

No. 7 Warren Street, - - New York. 



Our Stock is rivalled by none, and 
has won honors wherever shown. 
Chicks are bred on farms and have 
unlimited range or runs. 

EGGS, $3 per sitting of 13, 
$5 for 2 sittings, $7 for 3 sit- 
tings. 

Chicks for sale after September. 
Satisfaction guaranteed. 
Address, 

GATES, TWEEDY & CO., 

Lock Box 1372. Norwich, Conn. 



PURE, UNADULTERATED 
GAME FOWLS. 



SILYER and GOLDEN DUCKWING, 



Have never failed to win 1st and 
specials wherever shown. Satisfac- 
tion guaranteed in all cases. Have 
bred Game Fowls for many years. I 
purchase my stock without regard to 
cost, and always go for the best, know- 
ing it to be the cheapest in the end. 
My prices are as low as it is possible 
to make them, when quality is taken 
into consideration. Address, with 
stamp. 

E. T. BAIL'S", 

Mt. Kisco, n. y. 



MELROSE POULTRY UMl 

E. BARRON, Proprietor, 

Breeder of First Class Poultry : 

larcmm fegljorns and {J.^ocks ! 

A SPECIALTY. 

My Brown Leghorns have taken 
35 1st, 2d and special premiums, at the 
leading shows, the pa^t s-tason. 

My P. Kocks are Curbing strain, and 
are as fine a flock as can be found. 

My W. Leghorns are Smith's strain, 
and have won premiums wherever 
shown, including Boston, Haverhill, 
Brockton, Concord, and many other 
places. 

MyB. Leghorn Breeding Pen scored 
at Lowell, 6 birds, 93% points each on 
an average; and there is not a bird in 
my breeding yard but has scored 92 
points this winter. 

Prices for Eggs: B. L., S3, P. E., 
S3, "W. L., $1, per sitting of 13. Cash 
to accompany order. 



B + W* BAUM & S0H3, 

SYRACUSE, N. Y., 

BREEDERS OF 



Houdans, DarkBrahmas, 

BUFF COCHINS I 

AND 

PEA-COMBED PARTRIDGE COCHINS. 



Our Birds were awarded numerous 
1st, 3d and fepecial Premiums, at 
Syracuse, Indianapolis, Albany and 
Cortland, 1880. 

Fowls, Chicks and Eggs for sale. 

Send for Illustrated Catalogue, free. 



•- 



JUST OUT! 




TH E 







The most useful Book for Farmers that has ever been Published, explain- 
ing the Great Discovery of the Age. 

if TO HATCH EGGS 11 RAISE POULTRY 

BY MEANS OF HORSE-MANURE. 

A NEW PROCESS FOR MAKING LARGE 

PROFITS IN POULTRY RAISING. 

FOR WHICH 

45 GOLD AND OTHER MEDALS AND DIPLOMAS!! 

HAVE BEEN AWARDED TO THE INVENTOR, 

PROFESSOR A. CORBETT. 



Sent postage prepaid, paper covers, 50 cents; in cloth, gilt and elegantly- 
bound, 75 cents. For sale by the 

FERRIS PUBLISHING CO., Albany, N. Y. 



— w I H E $fc~ 




IS THE OKLY RELIABLE HATCHER IN THE WORLD, 

Except the Hen, and will beat her in the average of Chicks hatched, 100 per 
cent having been obtained from our Hatcher by our customers the past 
season. It is better than all others because it 

Regulates Absolutely its Own Heat, Moisture and Ventilation, 

Which no other machine does or can do. It is always reliable, and never 
fails at the critical moment — will always hatch all hatchable eggs. It can 
be used to hatch a dozen or a thousand. It can be so adjusted that differ- 
ent degrees of heat for different lots of Eggs can be had at the same time. 
It has all the conditions for perfect success. Heat will not vary X of a 
degree. 

It is not designed as an article for parlor furniture, but is made for prac- 
tical business, and is the only one that will give it. It is the only one 
suited to the 

Farmer, Fancier, or Market PouEtryman, 

FOE HATCHING ON A LABGE SCALE. 

It completely fills the bill. It has been Ion? waited for but has come 
at last. Sizes, 160 to 1040 Eggs. For prices and testimonials send for 
Circular. 



Is as perfect for raising, as the Hatcher is for Hatching; it Broods in imita- 
tion of the Hen by allowing the Chicks to press their Dacks close up to the 
heat. It is the only one that can be used out doors, and that affords per- 
fect protection in rainy weather, and from vermin at night. More Chicks 
can be raised with it than can be raised with Hens. Sizes, 300 to 500 
Chicks. For prices and other information, send for circulars and testi- 
monials to 

PERFECT HATCHER COMPANY, 



ELMIK^., N. Y. 



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